What Tomorrow Brings (Cellar Records)
Alyssa Allgood
Released April 9, 2021
All About Jazz Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
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https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ntOcxaD58s6ojgPMWEkMvk-z9hPhSdp5U
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About:
On her third studio album, Chicago vocalist Alyssa Allgood wields her instrument with depth, nuance & sophistication. Through refined interpretations of classics and the debut of four stunning originals, What Tomorrow Brings invites listeners on a personal journey of despair, determination and discovery.
Style. Substance. The music that matters invariably boasts one of the two. But when style and substance share the spotlight, in admirable balance and sure conviction, you’ve got something to remember.
Substance first: What Tomorrow Brings, her third album, reflects a couple years of enormous personal growth for Alyssa Allgood. New apartment, new jobs; a dedicated commitment to long-distance running; rigorous teaching of the jazz vocal tradition; and increased visibility beyond her Chicago base, with appearances in New York and Shanghai that have bolstered her confidence.
And then the pandemic. “I’ve had a lot more time alone, getting to know myself better,” says Allgood: “Time to be outside, to read, and to deal with moments of change and loss. They’re all opportunities to grow closer to who we are.” Allgood is still in her 20s, and despite her impressive self-possession, she’s still in process.
The substance of these songs reveals her deepening connection to life’s kaleidoscopic emotions, as does her placement of each song within the overall narrative. “I hope the listener will feel the harder emotions at the beginning,” she says, “and then a shift about halfway through [right around the beguiling “Time Found” and “Bridges,” the haunting Milton Nascimento classic]. And then comes the sense that we’re getting into something uplifting – that even though what tomorrow brings is unknown, there’s still hope.”
As for the style that animates this substance, it ripples with newfound depth and power. Allgood has systematically mined the music of her idols, including Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae, and Billie Holiday. They all funneled their considerable technique into making the words as meaningful as the melodies, and their example has steered Allgood toward greater nuance in service of storytelling. “I’m trying to make lyrical expression the focal point of what I’m doing,” she explains.
Give a listen to “This Bitter Earth,” where she bends notes and commands the rhythm to etch each twist of the dark/light lyrics. In her duo version of “For All We Know,” her rain-pure timbre and heartbreaking inflections dovetail with Mike Allemana’s genius for accompaniment. On “Passing Glance,” Allgood uses her lovely control of dynamics to bring the song into subtle bas-relief before a high-flying coda. But as her interpretative authority continues to flourish, she needn’t shout to tell every story; she can also whisper.
And on the eastern-tinged arrangement of “Mad About the Boy” (perhaps the album’s highlight), she does both. With liberal phrasing and tonal flutters, Allgood lets you see a raised eyebrow here, a rueful smile there – and finally, with daring swoops into the upper register, a level of passion that blows to hell the cool composure the lyrics strive to maintain.
Allgood works here with three of Chicago’s finest, all of them many years her senior, and she stands effortlessly with them in this compact, thrillingly interactive quartet. They too embody style and substance, either of which have propelled plenty of lesser bands. But put those two together and you’re in rare and wonderful company indeed.
Neil Tesser (Grammy-award winning writer and critic, author of The Playboy Guide to Jazz)
Track Listing:
1. There Are Such Things 04:01
2. Enclosure 03:21
3. Should Have Been 06:52
4. Memories 04:23
5. This Bitter Earth 04:00
6. Mad About The Boy 04:48
7. Time Found 04:18
8. Bridges 05:14
9. Try Your Wings 03:45
10. Light Of Darkness 04:48
11. For All We Know 03:06
12. Passing Glance 04:55
Personnel:
Alyssa Allgood: voice
Mike Allemana: guitar
Dennis Carroll: bass
George Fludas: drums
Executive Producer: Cory Weeds
Produced by Alyssa Allgood
Recorded August 5th – 6th, 2020, at JoyRide Studio, Chicago, IL
Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Brian Schwab
Photography by Thomas Mohr
Design and Layout by John Sellards
Review:
In the chemistry lab, solvents are said to be punctilious when they have been completely purified through filtering, distillation, and chromatography. Punctilious ether, if a sound, could be compared to the perfectly polished tone generated from lead crystal when struck with a platinum spoon. This is the level of refinement heard in Alyssa Allgood’s voice on What Tomorrow Brings. Allgood has been filtering and distilling her tone over three previous recordings: Lady Bird (Self Produced, 2015); Out Of The Blue (Self Produced, 2016); and Exactly Like You (Cellar Live, 2018). Her tone, delivery, and performance have been honed to a fine and nuanced point. Vocally, Allgood is capable of impressive melodic expression and tautly muscular vocalese/scatting, often in the same song. Regarding the latter, Allgood shares her level of artistry with only Dorian Devins and Veronica Swift. Vocalese/scat is not for every vocalist, but for those with the knack, it offers that added level of artistry to be explored and mastered. And mastered it, Allgood has.
An additional facet in which Allgood has evolved is repertoire. Her project song choice and programming has always been from a road less taken. She chooses a song based on its creative potential for her and not the song’s popularity or track record. On What Tomorrow Brings, Allgood presents the infrequently performed 1960 Dinah Washington ballad, “This Bitter Earth” (also recently featured by Veronica Swift on her album of the same title (Mack Avenue, 2021), giving the song a free and breezy interpretation properly framed by her guitar trio of guitarist Michael Allemana, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer George Fludas. This particular format provides the singer with an improvisatory/support index well suited for her intentions. She extrapolates this approach to the remainder of this project.
Performance highlights include a punchy and fun “Mad About The Boy,” and a breakneck scat break on “Time Around” that could cause whiplash, masterful and solidly swinging. Allgood continues to grow and evolve in a measured and thoughtful manner, taking well-calculated chances when the return is not necessarily guaranteed, but always pays off. It is satisfying to hear this talent bloom and take command, Allgood assuming her proper place as one of the finest jazz vocalists today.
C. Michael Bailey (All About Jazz)
