Search - Maroon :: Migratory

New York-based vocalist Hillary Maroon and pianist Benny Lackner, the core of the band MAROON, breathe new life into vocal jazz on their debut CD "Migratory." Aided by a top-shelf musician list including drummers Pheeroan akLaff, Allison Miller and Mark Ferber; bassist Andrew Emer; guitarist Mark Tewarson; and producer/percussionist J Why, MAROON takes vocal jazz on a musical and emotional trip that you won't soon forget. Fueled as much by avant-garde jazz and M-BASE rhythms as by singer-songwriter rock and tale-telling R&B balladry, the appropriately-named Migratory is a constantly-moving mix of styles, sewn together by Maroon's distinctive, crystal-clear vocal style and Lackner's inventive, perfectly-utilized Rhodes, organ and piano settings. Easing from unique originals like the slinky, tongue-in-cheek humor of album-opener "Welcome To Brooklyn" to the jumpy, worldly-wise love tale of "Migratory" to bold interpretations of compositions that range from well- (Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol's "Caravan") to lesser-known (Annette Peacock's "Dreams [If Time Weren't])" plus Charlie Haden and Abbey Lincoln's "First Song", the CD also features a memorable take on Bob Dylan's "Love Sick." Maroon chooses words and phrasings carefully and exposes the listener to a full-palette of very-human moods: self-effacing, frustrated, vulnerable, in love, world-weary. Maroon's always fully aware of her surroundi! ngs and eager to explore the emotional intricacies of interactions, with others and with the world.