BANCROFT & LYNE - Monday Nights
Lisaleo Records 0901
Sophie Bancroft (vocals, guitar), Tom Lyne ( double bass, bass guitar).
This is the fine new release from the Scottish/Canadian duo and named after their highly successful home studio broadcasts of recent times. There are five original pieces here and the same number of re-workings of great standards. The album is a joy from start to finish. Sophie processes a warm and enchanting voice, that she is able to back up with lilting guitar modes over Tom's resonant bass figures. The songs are almost all delivered in a low key, intimate fashion with the occasional foray into the territory of the wordless vocal, which adds contrast without destroying the mood in any way. The vocalist is of course part of the well known Bancroft jazz dynasty, that includes saxophonist Phil and drummer Tom. Bass man Tom Lyne, who emigrated to the UK in 1998, comes from Edmonton, Alberta is a composer, multi instrumentalist, audio production specialist and founder of The Pathhead Music Collective. The pair are also making great strides in the USA, with an appearance at The Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York, a favourable review in Downbeat magazine and Sophie's compositions being used in the television series "Six Feet Under".
If there ever was a jazz orientated album to induce a sense of calm and tranquillity to the listener, this one is surely it. There is total empathy between voice, guitar and bass throughout. The gentle intensity of the original pieces are equal to the renderings of the well known standards in every way. The ethereal and intimate Fragile Moon is a good example and sounds at the first playing as if it has been listened to many times before. Miles Away, a song about love at a distance, and Blue Moon with its gentle romantic lyricism are both capture their relative moods perfectly. Even with the more folksy originals like Comfort and the Tom Lyne piece Far From Mars, which has recently been released as a single, there is a sense of total calmness and control. When it comes to well known tunes from The Great American Songbook, and others, the duo make them their own, with the use of an unfamiliar tempo and fresh sounding vocal delivery. The old warhorse Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby is a case in point where the easy paced vocal over rhythm guitar provide an ideal showcase for the timeless and intriguing lyric. The precise diction and wordless vocal segment on Cole Porter's You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, is another example of how a few subtle changes can refresh a tune that has been around for many decades. Even with something as familiar as Fredrick Loewe and Alan. J. Lerner's On The Street Where You Live, from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady, there is a freshness and re-birth of this great song. When it comes to something a little more "hip" and "cool" such as a piece by the great Tom Waits, there is still no problem, as the duo produce a sensual rendering of the superb Grapefruit Moon originally from his 1973 album Closing Time.
In its genre, "Monday Nights" is an album of the highest class, superbly produced, and entertaining, that will make an ideal addition to any collection of quality music.
You can learn much more about both musicians and their activities at www.sophiebancroft.co.uk
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Lisaleo Records 0901
Sophie Bancroft (vocals, guitar), Tom Lyne ( double bass, bass guitar).
This is the fine new release from the Scottish/Canadian duo and named after their highly successful home studio broadcasts of recent times. There are five original pieces here and the same number of re-workings of great standards. The album is a joy from start to finish. Sophie processes a warm and enchanting voice, that she is able to back up with lilting guitar modes over Tom's resonant bass figures. The songs are almost all delivered in a low key, intimate fashion with the occasional foray into the territory of the wordless vocal, which adds contrast without destroying the mood in any way. The vocalist is of course part of the well known Bancroft jazz dynasty, that includes saxophonist Phil and drummer Tom. Bass man Tom Lyne, who emigrated to the UK in 1998, comes from Edmonton, Alberta is a composer, multi instrumentalist, audio production specialist and founder of The Pathhead Music Collective. The pair are also making great strides in the USA, with an appearance at The Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York, a favourable review in Downbeat magazine and Sophie's compositions being used in the television series "Six Feet Under".
If there ever was a jazz orientated album to induce a sense of calm and tranquillity to the listener, this one is surely it. There is total empathy between voice, guitar and bass throughout. The gentle intensity of the original pieces are equal to the renderings of the well known standards in every way. The ethereal and intimate Fragile Moon is a good example and sounds at the first playing as if it has been listened to many times before. Miles Away, a song about love at a distance, and Blue Moon with its gentle romantic lyricism are both capture their relative moods perfectly. Even with the more folksy originals like Comfort and the Tom Lyne piece Far From Mars, which has recently been released as a single, there is a sense of total calmness and control. When it comes to well known tunes from The Great American Songbook, and others, the duo make them their own, with the use of an unfamiliar tempo and fresh sounding vocal delivery. The old warhorse Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby is a case in point where the easy paced vocal over rhythm guitar provide an ideal showcase for the timeless and intriguing lyric. The precise diction and wordless vocal segment on Cole Porter's You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, is another example of how a few subtle changes can refresh a tune that has been around for many decades. Even with something as familiar as Fredrick Loewe and Alan. J. Lerner's On The Street Where You Live, from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady, there is a freshness and re-birth of this great song. When it comes to something a little more "hip" and "cool" such as a piece by the great Tom Waits, there is still no problem, as the duo produce a sensual rendering of the superb Grapefruit Moon originally from his 1973 album Closing Time.
In its genre, "Monday Nights" is an album of the highest class, superbly produced, and entertaining, that will make an ideal addition to any collection of quality music.
You can learn much more about both musicians and their activities at www.sophiebancroft.co.uk
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
