Search - Jackie Allen :: Tangled

Introducing One of the Best Bands in America

Rick Cornell | Reno, Nv USA | 05/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Forgive the length of this review, please. But it's high time somebody stood up and stated it: the band consisting of Jackie Allen (voc), John Molder (g), Laurence Hobgood and Ben Lewis (keyb), Hans Sturm (bs) and Dane Richeson (per) is one of the best working bands in America today.



I first became aware of this group via "Men in My Life", and was impressed, first and foremost, by the musicianship of these folks. Then came "Love Is Blue", IMO one of the best of 2004. And now this one, which is every bit as good as "Blue."



What impresses me the most about these musicians is their conciseness. You don't hear a wasted note from any of them, notwithstanding the fact that they are nominally jazz musicians. This album is a polyglot of styles, everything from samba (track 4) to country cum gospel (track 1) to '60's-style jazz-rock (track 6), with a rockin' rhumba cover of Rodgers & Hart's "Everything I've Got Belongs To You" (track 8) thrown in for good measure.



(Amazon's recommended bookend choice of the Dixie Chicks' latest, however, is odd. I think a better bookend would be Cassandra Wilson's latest, "Thunderbird." Both take jazz and progressive rock to places where they've never been before.)



What impresses me second most about this band is what good songwriters they are. Both "Blue" and "Tangled" have about 1/2 originals, 1/2 covers. I was really impressed by "Moon of Deception" and "Turnin' 'Round" on "Blue", and on this one, I am quite drawn to Mr. Sturm's retrospective "Hot Stone Soup" and Ms. Allen's icy "Coal Grey Eyes", built on an open-fifth vamp.



My favorites, though, on this album are the covers of the Bergman's beautifully romantic ballad, "Solitary Moon", and Donald Fagen's hilarious "Do Wrong Shoes" with Ms. Allen convincingly playing the "bad girl". Mr. Hobgood's piano is shown to best advantage on "Moon" and on the other Rodgers & Hart cover, the lovely ballad "You're Nearer." Molder is equally as impressive on "Nearer" and the title track, a searing blues-rock with biting Allen lyrics.



All in all, it's time for this group of musicians to give themselves a name. Yes, Jackie Allen individually sounds great and has gotten even stronger since her last album; but what's right is right. These albums really are about the group, not merely her. If Gwen Stefani can head "No Doubt", perhaps Jackie Allen can head "Beyond Any Doubt." Beyond any doubt, these are crackerjack musicians. Hopefully, with the label switch from A440 to Blue Note, more Americans will come to realize that as well. RC"

Smoothjazz.com Review

Sandy Shore | Monterey, CA | 06/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jackie Allen is a pioneer...a singer who thrives in the juxtaposition of jazz and pop music, as evidenced so clearly in this, her 8th album released since her recording debut in 1994. TANGLED is her first for Blue Note, and an auspicious start. This is just flat out top-notch stuff, as she joins the growing stable of Blue Note's pioneering female vocalists...Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Patricia Barber, and Dianne Reeves. That's good company, and she deserves to be there. TANGLED is one of those albums that defy categorization, as she deftly and effortlessly moves from straight-ahead jazz (her read on the Rodgers & Hart tune, "You're Nearer" is incredibly tender and beautiful) to folk-rock (she colors van Morrison's "When Will I Ever Learn" with almost a gospel feel). This collection of tunes is varied and well-balanced, with originals from her band, three of her own collaborations with poet/writer Oryna Schiffman, and some well-chosen works from the pens of others, including a ballad take on Randy Newman's "Living Without You" and a jaunty, sassy treatment of Donald Fagen's previously unrecorded "Do Wrong Shoes." As Ms. Allen puts it, "The elements of jazz and pop have always been mixed in my life. They all swing around in my head." There may have been a time in the past when this cross-pollination might have been perceived as way niched, but no longer. Jackie Allen's music is fresh, and hip and oh, so today! TANGLED is most definitely a must-have! ~SCOTT O'BRIEN"

Five-star singer and production.

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 06/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's certainly a highly-competitive field, but among female "jazz" vocalists Jackie Allen rises to the top in the Midwest/Chicago area. Her move to a major label is well-deserved. It assures her of top-notch production values, some help with distribution, and apparently her former liberties of choosing her own material.



There are some jazz influences, but nothing, contrary to a previous reviewer's observation, resembling "straightahead jazz" (a couple of Rodgers and Hart songs are favorites of some jazz artists, Fagen's "Do Wrong Shoes" has a bit of swinging 4/4, and Johnny Mandell's "Solitary Moon," the album's highlight, would be worthy of any jazz artist). Call it eclectic, genre-resistant, or simply tasteful "adult contemporary"--besides the jazz traces there's plenty of contemporary pop, some light latin, new age folk/country, and light rock. Jackie's penchant for the sound of guitar appears to be influencing her direction in the past 5-10 years, taking her ever a bit further away from the American Songbook and hip, swinging interpretations.



"You're Nearer" is a considerable distance from, say, Shirley Horn's reading, but with Jackie's intimate, personal sound, it would work in any setting. The real "misfire" is "Everything I've Got Belongs to You," which requires a two-faced, innocent/dangerous femme fatale persona (not the cold-blooded sadist of Jackie's chilling reading) as well as listeners who don't have a tin ear for irony (increasingly hard to find these days). The Islamic prohibitions about the use of God's name make more sense to me after hearing Jackie's opener, "When Will I Ever Learn" (Van Morrison). It works only with Berlin's "God Bless America" (thank God, Irving didn't title it "God Blesses America," or it, too, would have to go into the prohibited pile).



The examples of singers like Tierney Sutton and Karrin Allyson do show that going it as a female jazz singer these days is grueling (figure on becoming a full-time employer of a crack piano trio, for one thing) but not impossible. Hearing Jackie do things like "Spain" and "Come Fly With Me" (from "Men in My Life"), however, does lead me to believe she'd have a good shot, if the desire, perseverance, and energy are still there. Even the evidence on this recording, especially "Solitary Moon," attests to the enduring presence of her talent--and, of course, of that "special sound"--intimate, warm, inviting, glowing and vibrant as ever."