By Dean Poling
VDT View — SHADES: Gia Notte
Sultry describes the voice of vocalist Margie “Gia” Notte on her latest album, “Shades.” She smolders through a dozen torch songs on this evocative album. Highlights include covers of “The Look of Love,” “Speak Low,” and the monument to torch songs, “My Funny Valentine.” In the wrong hands, “Valentine” can skitter into parody, but not here. Notte keeps the song on simmer adjusting the heat and the heartache accordingly. She’s a new artist, coming off last year’s live debut recording, “Just You, Just Me & Friends,” with this latest album that highlights a voice that can belt out loud and open or can adjust to shades to fit the mood.
BIEN SUR: Emilio Solla & The Tango Jazz Conspiracy
Give pianist/composer Emilio Solla credit for being gutsy. In the opening stanzas of his new album, “Bien Sur,” in the opening song “Remain Alert,” he presents a discordant babbling of piano and sax played by Chris Cheek. With a tight rhythmic background, Cheek and Solla play as if they have just been introduced to their instruments. The sax screeches. The piano sounds like a child’s fingers banging random keys. It’s less than a minute, but it is tempting to stop the music and move on. Still, it’s raspy and disjointed enough to make a listener curious in that ‘really, this can’t be right’ sort of way. This cacophony is all the more fascinating as “Remain Alert” metamorphs into a masterful series of jams featuring great riffs from both Solla and Cheek. They finely execute a tough gig similar to a great actor having to play a character who is a bad actor. Here, they are fine musicians playing like inexperienced ones. While “Remain Alert” develops into a whirlwind of rhythm, technique, and passion, there are other moments in this album that are abruptly plodding. They don’t slow so much as reflective breaks but rather as brakes bringing some soaring riffs to an abrupt halt. Melody lovers should forgive all with the soulful “Malena,” a poignant study as understated as walking in a sprinkle but an experience that is just as memorable. Over all, “Bien Sur” is akin to jazz trapeze: A daring bit of musicianship that you can’t help but follow.
