Various Artists - Ice on the Hudson: Songs by Renee Rosnes & David Hajdu (2018)

Reuniting as a songwriting team for their first full album, author David Hajdu and jazz pianist Renee Rosnes explore a wide range of art songs about the complexities of contemporary adult life, with a group of elite musicians improvising nimbly around four vocalists. No mere “moon-June-spoon” lyricist, Hajdu (who’s been a critic at The New Republic and The Nation) has high literary aims, and Rosnes’ sympathetic melodies and harmonies ennoble his themes. A reinterpretation of Rosnes’ instrumental “The Quiet Earth” deepens Hajdu’s fable on tenacity, “Little Pearl,” into a jazz-noir songbook standard, while Rosnes brings equal conviction to the flippant humor of “I Like Pie,” which she spins into a brisk cabaret number. The studied drama of some vocals here may not appeal to Rosnes’ core jazz audience, but the musical-theater sensibility makes for performances of spirited character.



Track List:
01. René Marie – A Tiny Seed
02. Janis Siegel – I Used to Like to Draw
03. Darius de Haas – Trotsky in Mexico
04. Karen Oberlin – All But You
05. Darius de Haas – To Meet My Brother
06. Janis Siegel – The Passage
07. René Marie – Little Pearl
08. Karen Oberlin – I Like Pie
09. Janis Siegel – Ice on the Hudson
10. Karen Oberlin – I Still Feel the Same
11. Darius de Haas – Confound Me

Janis Siegel - vocals
Karen Oberlin - vocals
René Marie - vocals
Darius de Haas - vocals
Renee Rosnes - piano
David Hajdu - lyrics

with
Sean Smith - bass
Carl Allen - drums
Steve Wilson - alto & soprano sax (1, 3, 10)
Seamus Blake - tenor sax (6, 11)
Ken Peplowski - clarinet (5)
Erik Friedlander - cello (2, 7, 8)
Rogerio Boccato - percussion (1, 6-8, 11)

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