Audrey Silver “Dream Awhile”
Audrey Silver does not fail to delight with Dream Awhile. An already established jazz vocalist in the New York club scene, Silver continues to hone her craft with a more mature, finely polished follow-up to last year’s fantastic Here In My Arms. Once again thronged by an outstanding ensemble of musicians, Silver’s talents are exquisitely showcased as she excels in her vocal delivery, song selections, arrangements and production.
Silver has a fabulous knack for engaging the listener with her singing, as is evident in her arrangement of the Hart & Rodgers tune “Falling in Love with Love.” Though the song opens starkly with the bass and vocals, Silver maintains such confident control of the melody that one can almost see her head bobbing and hips swaying as the tempo hastens with the entrance of the piano and drums. Her remarkable ability to sing independently of the other instruments is phenomenal and sounds completely natural as she scats around the piano. The larger degree of scatting on Dream Awhile may evoke a contemporary comparison to a more tender and engaging Jane Monheit.
Evidently Silver is thoroughly enjoying herself on this album and one can almost “hear” her smiling as she sings, yet there is a retained air of sophistication. There are no sharp edges in Silver’s music, but rather a warm easiness that invites the listener in and stay awhile.
The principle arranger for Dream Awhile is pianist Joe Barbato, who gives the keys a bell-like tone as he expertly adds inflections throughout the album, never robbing Silver of the limelight but rather gently elevating her. The two open the well-known ballad “That’s All” with Silver beautifully singing the soaring melody as Barbato does little to accompany her, but rather adds excellent texture with his ivory nuances. Silver skillfully carries through to the end of her phrases and seamlessly changes vowel sounds. After bassist Joe Fitzgerald delivers the bridge solo Silver enters again with conviction through to the coda as she slightly strays from the melody but finishes with flourish with her fantastic fellow musicians.
Barbato’s arrangement of “Too Marvelous for Words” is not as grand. It is still extremely well-executed but the juxtaposition of the piano and vocals in closely related keys in a minor mode sounds strange with the uplifting lyrics, “You’re too marvelous for words like glorious and glamorous and amorous.” Regardless, all of the standards on Dream Awhile are given new life with new interpretations, which is one of the many awesome attributes Silver and her ensemble bring to the jazz realm. Silver shares arranging credits on “Day Dream” and with the addition of guitarist Chris Bergson in a rubato tempo makes this piece a highlight of the album. Just like in Debussy’s La Mer, there is a rich overlaying of the instruments (including voice) as they gently swirl around each other playing unique musical thoughts, yet all contributing to a pleasurable aural sensation.
It is a wonderful privilege to be able to follow an artist as she travels along her musical journey. Thankfully a musician as fine as Silver seems to know where she wants to go and continues to get better with each passing year without fail. Dream Awhile is another gemstone and a truly remarkable effort.
Review by Kelly O’Neil
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