DreamLand (OA2 / ORIGIN)
Libby York
Released December 2022
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n3ODv1d-u8l58tGj9SFWuYzOnQaTag9Uk
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/album/32CtwxSgIk8xZ9xdQSG4RV?si=Nt6e-Ou2TniiHCd98a1shQ
About:
The Johnny Mercer classic “Hit the Road to Dreamland” evoked the state of mind for singer Libby York and so many performers as stages in 2020 long went dark, but ultimately gifting the thrill of revival two years later. Dedication to the music and craft has flourished since, along with the connection to audiences and the music itself. DreamLand was born from that landscape and York’s chance encounter with guitarist Randy Napoleon, who was accompanying Freddie Cole at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase. Randy’s playing and warm enthusiastic manner set the stage for their gathering in the studio in Fall 2021 for this intimate set of songs, each pure, classic, compositional gems in themselves.
Track Listing:
1. Hit the Road to
Dreamland 4:15
2. Estrada Branca (This Happy Madness) 5:36
3. Mountain Greenery 3:16
4. Cloudy Morning 4:59
5. Throw It Away 7:15
6. Rhode Island Is Famous for You 3:50
7. Still on the Road 4:37
8. When October Goes 4:16
9. Moonray 2:50
10. An Occasional Man 4:32
11. Something Cool 5:24
12. It’s Love 4:27
Personnel:
Libby York: vocals
Randy Napoleon: guitar
Rodney Whitaker: bass
Keith Hall: drums (5,10,12)
Produced by Libby York
Co-Producer Randy Napoleon
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Corey DeRushia
Cover painting by Susan Sugar
Artist photos John Abbott
Cover Design & Layout by John Bishop
Review:
Is it damning with faint praise to say that this is grown-up jazz? Too much female jazz singing seems to slide from Betty Boop pyrotechnics straight into “Gloomy Sunday” croaking without much happening in between. The lovely thing about Libby York is that she seems like an adult artist without letting responsibilities weigh down joyousness and pleasure in the song. York knows that her responsibility is to the song, and on material as potentially arch as “Rhode Island Is Famous For You” or the trickier “This Happy Madness” she delivers the lines with an almost discursive straightforwardness that enhances rather than deadening the impact. She’s picked a remarkably good crew for this latest sail out into the bay. Randy Napoleon, who helps with production, has a sophisticated touch but never drifts into that “lounge” style that overtakes pianists charged with accompanying cool singers, and York is in the line of June Christy and Chris Connor. Whitaker, who has a lot to do on the drummer-less tracks, is a model of tasteful restraint, while Hall, when he comes in on “Throw It Away,” generates maximum impact by not being there from the start. York’s voice is in splendid shape, but it’s the vigor and judgement of her storytelling that makes this one rather special. She’s worked a relatively quiet passage up till now, but unlike those singers who, to vary the image, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, she’s pacing herself beautifully.
Brian Morton (DownBeat)
