New Sounds From the Jazz Age
Self-Released, 2020
8/10
Listen to New Sounds From the Jazz Age
Though her formative years were spent with classical music and she would eventually earn degrees in vocal performance, Lizzie Thomas very quickly fell in love with jazz, and here she returns with a 4th album of new adventures in the area of her favorite genre.
“Fascinating Rhythm” starts the listen and lives up to its title with playful clarinet alongside expressive vocals from Thomas, and “Our Love Is Here To Stay” follows with an elegant and lively display of jazz prowess that’s both pretty and intimate.
In the middle, “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” recruits energetic percussion, bright horns and dancing keys with some rock’n’roll spirit, while “In The Still Of The Night” brings a romantic setting with sublime piano acrobatics amid a firm Latin groove.
Deeper tracks bring us the ballad turned glorious shuffling of the poetic “Cheek To Cheek”, and “The Very Thought Of You” radiates emotion in the soaring exit of an Afro-Caribbean nature.
Primarily surrounding tunes by Porter, Gershwin, and Ellington, Thomas and company keep the listener guessing with constant changes in tempo, tone and mood, as they reinvent already fantastic tunes in their intricate, frisky and compelling fashion.
Travels well with: Tamuz Nissim- Capturing Clouds; Lois Bruno- And So It Begins