The
Time Is Right About Now for Brenda Earle Stokes
The
Time Is Right About Now for Brenda Earle Stokes
The
centerpiece of Canadian singer-songwriter-pianist and arranger Brenda Earle
Stokes’ new album “Right About Now,” is the title song, written by another
Canadian Ron Sexsmith. Earle Stokes who
now makes her home in New York City with her husband Gerard and their little boy
Patrick has crafted a breakthrough album that clearly signals that she deserves
to be mentioned in the same breath as other great 21st century artists to come
out of Canada. This writer has known Brenda Earle Stokes for about eight and
one-half years and each album has demonstrated more promise and more polish. Now
we can stop talking about potential, because Brenda Earle Stokes has set the bar
for other Jazz artists who will follow.
Accompanying herself on the Rhodes piano, Earle Stokes
is surrounded by a cast of very good musicians including Jordan Perlson whose
drumming is subtle and guitarist Steve Cardenas whose elegant playing is
reminiscent of the great “Bucky” Pizzarelli. Matt Arnoff (bass) also appears on
the song “Right About Now.” Earle Stokes’ longtime friend saxophonist Joel Frahm
appears on several other songs from this breathtaking album.
Brenda Earle Stokes’ phrasing on the Sexsmith song
“Right About Now,” draws the listener into a world where the singer has been
worn down by the world and which expresses the need to experience love in that
moment. It is a love letter, with a longing to it. When Ron Sexsmith penned the
words he left room for the listener to interpret it as either a love that has
departed permanently or perhaps a love that just is absent in the moment, but a
relationship still intact. Either way the sense of longing and wishing for that
love in the moment, in what one imagines is the middle of the night or the very
early hours of the morning is authenticated by Brenda Earle Stokes’ sublime
vocals.
Earle Stokes’ new album opens with her original song (lyrics and music) “High
Time,” which is introduced by a twenty-one second piano instrumental accompanied
by Perlson’s drums. The ambience is that of a nightclub, with low lighting,
perhaps a dinner club. Joel Frahm’s saxophone creates, what in bygone years
might have been described as a smoky ambience. “High Time,” one of the seven
songs that Brenda Earle Stokes wrote for this album, is a song about taking time
for some self-nurturing and asserting one’s independence. “It’s
high time I paid a little more attention / It’s high time I thought about trying
to change direction…/ It’s high time I started to adjust my boundaries / It’s
high time I started seeing what’s around me…”
A few things stand out about Brenda Earle Stokes’ album
Right About Now, the maturation of
her vocals, which in part happens with a lot of good singers who work hard at
their craft and secondly, the lush arrangements that she has created for her own
songs, as well as the ones she covered. She seemingly has reached another level
as a pianist as well and her playing on another original song “Baiao Em Minha
Cabeca,” is exquisite.
With the original, slow moving, “The Birthday Song,” the
singer reflects upon life as her thirty-third birthday dawns and she checks the
baggage that she has carried for a little too long. She is at peace with her
life.
The pace quickly changes with Joe Jackson’s “Got The
Time,” which features a splendid and elegant guitar solo by Steve Cardenas and
it is followed by Earle Stokes’ spritely piano solo.
“Let My Love Open The Door,” a Peter Townsend tune is a
simple love letter and Earle Stokes’ vocals converse with Frahm’s saxophone,
which reaches a crescendo.
Other highlights to listen for include, Cole Porter’s
“Everything I Love,” from the 1941 Broadway production
Let’s Face It (performed
in London’s West End in 1942). The original was very quiet, very elegant and
laid back, whereas Brenda Earle Stokes picks up the pace a bit and makes a
bolder statement with her vocals.
We have only touched upon a few of the twelve songs that
comprise Brenda Earle’s new album Right
About Now, which will be released on June 13, at 7 pm at SubCulture in New
York City, which is located at 45 Bleeker Street. This record is well worth your
investment and you should buy one for your best friend as well.
Please
visit the
This review published May 2nd, 2014 by Joe Montague is protected by copyright © and may not be reproduced in print or on the internet or through any other means without the written permission of Riveting Riffs Magazine, All Rights Reserved