“Andrea Wolper's voice is as clear as any singer on the scene now and that clarity is not only technical, it's emotional/motivational as well. . . Each selection has a life of its own that can exist only through the honesty of Wolper's expression. . . [she] delivers each sound-world with total artistic commitment.” —Francis Lo Kee, NYC Jazz Record
The mark of an outstanding vocalist is an ability to get inside the skin and bones of a cover, and turn it into an original. Conversely, any original taken on will sound as if it’s been a classic for centuries.
This is Andrea Wolper’s gift, which she displays in Technicolor through her recent September 13th CD release, “Parallel Lives,” on Jazzed Media’s label. Her recording band mates are also her working band mates on the road, solid session musicians and sidemen of multi-purpose caliber: bassist Ken Filiano, pianist Kris Davis, guitarist Michael Howell, and soundrhythiumist Michael TA Thompson.
Wolper’s gift to the jazz republic is a juicy assortment of unusual covers by artists like Joni Mitchell and Johnny Mercer, as well as an underrated but much beloved classic from Sound Of Music, and even more unusual originals (her scatting is extraordinary), all seemingly falling under a feel-good, make others feel better theme.
The California transplant in New York composer/vocalist does something truly special in her opening act, Mitchell’s “Song To A Seagull.” It’s a quiet showcase of Wolper’s mischievous, pixie-ish voice encased in a deep, savvy blanketing of lush tones. She carries the weight of so much of Mitchell’s intoxicating, thorny poetry … with barely a piano and sparing stroke of bowed bass.
The first sign of Wolper’s ease around the scat bar happens right away in the next song—her own, swinging composition about “The Girls In Their Dresses.” Here, lively, clever, and knowing lyrics skip lightly in sync with the music until she enters into a wide-open field where she can infuse any sort of message she wants in her scatting rap session, or get dangerously lost in the mission.
No chance of that.
That she does this with earnest profusion, awkward but relatable notes, encouraging everyone to keep trying to embrace life no matter what in a stream-of-conscious outpouring — “it’s right there, something, gotta happen, something, brass ring, pot of gold, adventure, real love, change the world…” — while gracefully skirting the overwrought or the pretentious. She doesn’t ply on. She know when to leave well enough alone, and go back to the music. And, she does this in a candid reflection of the piano’s more finessed, rolling solo just prior. Kind of genius.
Wolper’s “The Girls In Their Dresses” will win you over. “June Rose” — another Wolper original, harkening the ease of 1960s Jobim summer days — will keep you there. Writing (or keeping up with) jazz especially can be tough. It’s not easy to marry hot spots for instrumentation, and keep the lyrical singular, flowing, and complementary. Yet Wolper does this every time. In “June Rose,” her vocals and the guitar set the idyllic pace and imagery.
“Parallel Lives” goes from straight-ahead jazz, swing, blues and honkytonk, to the Great American Songbook, and even some indie-pop. Throughout the musical traverse, Andrea Wolper takes risky, but worthy shots at amping up the entire experience, without taking away from the emotional curiosity and thrill that are intrinsically her landscape.
Contemplative, somber “Maple Sugar Boy” by Buffy Sainte-Marie, in Wolper’s hands, could easily find footing amongst the current contemporary artists (Anna Nalick, Ingrid Michaelson, Marit Peters) who’ve allowed their thoughtful, intelligent, and poignant voices to do all the talking (over the sexualized, shock value MTV hypesters we all could use less of — this means you Lady Gaga).
Wolper’s festooned scatting, mirroring a flute on steroids, sounding incredibly surreal and space-agey, introduces the eclectic bassist wind-up toy in “Blue Wind” by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik. She uses her impish voice (shades of the B-52s) as a musical instrument, as well as sings confidently when it’s time to sing, rolling around those Rs, and breathlessly shining around those melodic curves.
The country/hip-hoppy R&B “Be Cool,” another Joni Mitchell special, benefits greatly from Wolper’s innate, infectious sense of scat-timing and bravado in the face of much musical inter-weaving.
There isn’t a song out of Andrea Wolper’s reach. She has the captivating energy and chops necessary to keep up the pace, be it low and slow, quick-fire, or all emotive points in between. And then some.
“Parallel Lives” measures up to Wolper’s 2005 critically acclaimed predecessor, the moody and spare emotional masterpiece, “The Small Hours.” In many ways, it’s even better, because we get more of this quirky artist.
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