Search - Lyambiko :: Shades of Delight

Shades of The Future!!!

A. Davis | Greenville, SC | 11/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lyambiko has one of the most captivating voices among the flock of new Jazz vocalist introduced in the last five years. Her sound is captivating and original - with a voice that is silky smooth with percise intonation. Her band is just as strong as her voice - swinging like a pendulum one moment and laying down some serious Blues the next. They even flex their muscle and stretch out with some hot African vibe on the 15 minute "Savannah Suite", but the story here is how mature this group has grown since their initial release, the beautiful "Out of This Mood".This disc is not your in-the pocket standards recording. The material selected for "Shades of Delight" includes Van Morrison's "Moondance", Mose Allison's "Your Mind is on Vacation", Solomon Burke's "Black Coffee" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Dindi". In between, you will find the standards "Tenderly" and Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" - along with a nice touch of Blues and African music. The beauty of this song selection is in the way each tune is personalized to sound like they were written by Lyambiko. For me, the golden moments on this recording arrive on the 12 minute version of "Dindi"(Jobim's original version was less than 5 minutes). The band just rips into the melody and sails for the horizon while that beautiful voice soars. On "Moondance", Lyambiko sounds bold and confident as she tackles one of Morrison's more complex treats. This lady takes chances and succeeds at very high levels. There are no weak moments here, just great solid music that will move you. I hope this group tours the USA soon. I would love to see them perform live. "Shades of Delight?" Yes indeed!!!"