Matt White’s Dolly
Another impressive & engaging endeavor comes with a mash-up of the light & principled pop-oriented female voice of Liz Kelley, encumbered among the jazzy inflections of Matt White’s cornet. Delicious. I usually don’t meander into these confines of cheesy organ & faux-jazz chanteuse territories, but when something is done well, it really shines.
Liz maneuvers with skill through the lyrics of “Down From Dover” & reminds me of the late Annie Ross (Lambert, Hendricks & Ross — an American vocalese trio popular in the early ‘60s & excellent if not unorthodox tunesmiths. Joni Mitchell covered 2 of their compositions.
The entire set, except for 1 song, they’re all Dolly Parton originals & reeks of creativity. Matt’s arrangements are Beat Generation cool – “My Blue Tears” has some skillful Colleen Clark drums & the other musicians play determinedly ambitious. No one steps on toes, & the music moves along at a generous clip. Liz demonstrates wonderful pipes toward the coda, yet never showsboat. She has fine intonation, phrasing, & tone that keep the song colorful, warm, & intrinsic.
9 jazzy excursions tread through Matt White’s Dolly (Dropped May 15/Adhyaropa Records/39:53) at a generous clip. Recorded in South Carolina & produced by Matt, it can be like crawling back into the past since this was a relatively cool genre in the ‘50s & early ‘60s by small jazz combos. Groups that didn’t pontificate into long drawn-out soloing but focused on the jazzy lyrics threaded by the fine needle of instruments that followed asides to the composition.
There are no vocals with Bert Kaempfert’s Orchestra, but his arrangements often had that quality of serving the melody rather than impressing an audience. He wasn’t a jazz musician, but “Afrikaan Beat,” “That Happy Feeling,” & “Red Roses For a Blue Lady” are all impeccable pieces of memorable music with a dosage of inventive trumpet. Many Matt White pieces are arranged to incur this same kind of interest.
“The Bridge” finds Liz in good form. Tim Fischer’s guitars are warm with a slight venture into Joe Pass & Django Reinhardt realms. Clever runs, sometimes simple (Bob Ferguson’s “The Carroll County Accident”) but always effective. This pushes the tune into a more Americana domain with jazzy accompaniment. It works.
With “9 to 5 – #3,” it pushes into impressive territory organ-wise (Demetrius Doctor), often taken by England’s Brian Auger (Trinity & Oblivion Express). Some can find this interesting; others will skip. Liz returns on Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene” at once country, it squeezed into a jazzy, motivated piece with atmosphere & a strong vibe. I’ll go out on a limb & say Dolly would approve of this, if not surprised. This isn’t her wheelhouse, but it’s still quite good.
Highlights – “Down From Dover,” “My Blue Tears,” “The Bridge,” “The Carroll County Accident” & “Jolene.”
Color image courtesy of Matt’s Facebook. CD @ Bandcamp & https://www.mattwhitejazz.com/