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Rachel Brand
Find Yourself In My Shoes
REB001
Singer
Rachel Brand came to jazz singing late, after a career in business, via
the Fionna Duncan Jazz Workshop and the Guildhall School, but she handles
a standard ('I Didn't Know What Time It Was', 'I Got Lost in His Arms',
'It Never Entered My Mind') with energetic wit, grace and aplomb; addresses
blues-based material (Oscar Brown's 'Humdrum Blues') with finely judged
robustness, and sings less familiar material (Ben Watt's paean to simple
pleasures, 'On Box Hill') with sensitivity and intelligence.
Oddly enough, given the strength of her jazz chops (on show courtesy of peppy visits to Mark Murphy's take on Freddie Hubbard's 'Red Clay' and Lionel Hampton's buzzy 'Red Top'), one of this wholly likeable album's highlights is her (jazz-waltz) arrangement of Pink Floyd's 'Money', the lyrics of which she delivers with just the right amount of irony. Backed by a smart band (core trio pianist Mike Gorman, bassist Steve Watts, drummer Mark Fletcher, joined by guests Mike Walker on guitar, saxophonist Paul Booth and trumpeter Damon Brown), Brand also reveals herself as a skilled lyricist (Joe Henderson's 'Recorda Me' re-emerging as 'Will You Remember Me?'), and as an arranger and musical director on this enjoyable debut album.
