 |
| CD REVIEW |
ANYBODY'S BABY - TERRA HAZELTON (HealyOphonic Records 2004) CD Review by Diane Wells |
Wow - I don�t think I�ve ever been inundated with this much musicality on a single CD before! If it�s humanly possible for an orchestra to be �overly busy�, in spite of the tremendous talents of all involved, I believe this is the case here. That�s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as some people have no difficulty at all in absorbing multi-layered productions while simultaneously catching every instrumental nuance. While I enjoyed each song individually, it was a bit overwhelming to listen straight through in its entirety. Terra Hazelton is undoubtedly a versatile singer with a formidable set of lungs. Even that gothic, sepia-like photograph of her on the CD cover seems a bit intimidating for someone who exudes an air of healthy boisterousness � la Mae West in her onstage performances. That being said, she�s got a tigress of a voice that warns you�d better not mess with this particular lady � she�ll chew you up and spit you out in a second! Conversely, on the final track - �What Do I Care for the Moon� (by Sam Petite), the burlesque queen persona is tossed aside in favour of the vocal sweetness of a Sandra Dee folksinger ingenue. On this particular track, Terra strums admirably on acoustic guitar. Unfortunately her savage growl becomes unnecessarily contrived and tedious at least halfway through the 17-song disc, with the exception of her own �Anybody�s Baby�, a raunchy struttin� blues, featuring stellar sidemen Jeff Healey, reclaiming his stake in that genre on electric guitar, Alec Fraser on bass, Al Webster on drums, Dave Murphy on piano and Christopher Plock on tenor saxophone. To be fair, Terra doesn�t just growl monotously; she injects a natural vibrato and occasional yodel when stretching out notes. Three of the more outstanding tracks on the CD are �Sugar Blues� (written by Clarence Williams, but also credited to someone named Fletcher), �Long John Blues�, a barrel-housin� ode to the dental (or perhaps analgesic) industry, also credited to Williams, but which is elsewhere attributed to Tommy George, and �I�m Just a Lucky So-and-So� (Duke Ellington/Hal David). In fact, a plethora of songwriters, some more popular than others, are covered by the superb cast of musicians/back-up vocalists (many borrowed from the Jazz Wizards circle), such as Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter and Yellen & Ager, in a slightly modified �Ain�t (S)He Sweet�. Gordon & Gomez�s �Spinach� (I wonder if food-obsessed keyboardist Eric �Two Scoops� Moore would like to cover that) gets off to a false start and ends up being �Laughter Has Vitamin A, B & D� - priceless! If you love your music with a lot of �grit� and �spice� to it, this is the ticket. |
| TO RETURN TO THE CD REVIEW INDEX PAGE, |
 |
 |