Name: A Day Like This *
Brand: Telarc
SKU: 543600
Price: 19.04 USD
Availability: InStock

Performer Notes

New York Voices: Lauren Kinhan, Peter Eldridge, Darmon Meader, Kim Nazarian.
Personnel: Darmon Meader (vocals, tenor saxophone); Peter Eldridge (vocals, piano); Lauren Kinhan, Kim Nazarian (vocals); Marty Ashby (electric guitar); Mike Tomaro (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jim Germann (baritone saxophone); Frank Greene (trumpet, flugelhorn); Steve Hawk , Ralph Guzzi (trumpet); Jay Ashby (trombone, percussion); Chris Carson (bass trombone); Andy Ezrin (piano); Paul Nowinski (acoustic bass); Marcello Pellitteri (drums); Ben Wittman (percussion).
Additional personnel: Chuck Loeb (guitar); Marty Ashby (acoustic guitar); Gil Goldstein (accordion); Paquito D'Rivera (clarinet); Bob Mintzer (bass clarinet); Jim Guerra (alto saxophone); Eric DeFade (tenor saxophone); Steve McKnight, Bob Matchett, Joe Herndon, Joe Magnarelli (trumpet); Clayton DeWalt (trombone); Dave Samuels (vibraphone); Lucas Ashby (pandeiro); Paul Nowinski, Jay Ashby, Mike Tomaro, Andy Ezrin, Frank Greene, Marcello Pellitteri, Jim Germann, Steve Hawk , Ralph Guzzi, Chris Carson.
Audio Mixers: Jay Dudt; Darmon Meader; Jay Ashby.
Recording information: Audible Images, Pittsburgh, PA; Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Pittsburgh, PA.
Editors: Jay Dudt; Darmon Meader; Jay Ashby.
Photographer: Chris Carroll .
Arrangers: Kim Nazarian; Peter Eldridge; Lauren Kinhan; Darmon Meader; Jay Ashby.
With ensemble vocal jazz, the danger is always that tight and complex harmony writing will come across as too smooth and too sweet -- for some reason, chords that sound sharp and bracing when distributed among reed instruments can sound cloying and overly slick when sung by human voices. The vocal/instrumental quartet New York Voices don't avoid that trap entirely on their latest album (and their first as an ensemble in seven years), but they continue to demonstrate their mastery of the genre with a solid program of new and old songs and innovative arrangements. Their take on "Darn That Dream" is startlingly new (and features a fine bass clarinet solo by Bob Mintzer), and the lyrics that group members added to John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" work very nicely. Not everyone will agree that the world needed a vocal jazz version of Laura Nyro's "Stoned Soul Picnic," but the New York Voices' version is really lots of fun and is sure to bring a nostalgic tear to more than one baby-boomer eye. Apart from a couple of saccharine moments on "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," A Day Like This is a pleasure from start to finish. Recommended. ~ Rick Anderson

Professional Reviews

Down Beat (p.75) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "New York Voices is galvanizing. The steeplechase ensemble passages in 'Wee Small Hours,' and unison melisma on Stevie Wonder's 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing' provide state-of-the-vocal-art."

JazzTimes (p.83) - "Eldridge fronts a percolated 'Darn That Dream' and a darkly seductive 'No Moon At All.' Meader takes over for a joyous, sun-drenched 'On a Clear Day'..."

Album: A Day Like This *
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Darn That Dream
2)	World Keeps You Waiting, The
3)	In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
4)	On a Clear Day
5)	For All We Know
6)	Love You Madly
7)	As We Live and Breathe
8)	No Moon at All
9)	Chamego (Betty's Bossa)
10)	Noticing the Moment
11)	Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
12)	Stoned Soul Picnic
13)	Day Like This, A
14)	Jackie

Album: A Day Like This *
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Darn That Dream
2)	World Keeps You Waiting, The
3)	In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
4)	On a Clear Day
5)	For All We Know
6)	Love You Madly
7)	As We Live and Breathe
8)	No Moon at All
9)	Chamego (Betty's Bossa)
10)	Noticing the Moment
11)	Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
12)	Stoned Soul Picnic
13)	Day Like This, A
14)	Jackie