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Sirens
in the
C-House
DreamBox Media 2000
JD Walter - Vocals
Jean-Michel Pilc - Piano
John Swana - Trumpet
Steve Varner - Bass
Greg Hutchinson - Drums |
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Sirens
in the C- House
Liner Notes
by Bob Dorough
Vaulting, leaping, soaring, zooming, loping… over tall
buildings? (Yes!)….landing,
Softly and solidly in the next chorus, onto the next plateau,
into the next soloist…flying, gathering, coming together…empathic,
stemming the flow of many ideas
(each idea good and fruitful), funneling into the home stretch
and satifsfying the voice through it all, vox humana, in the
midst of other voices, the instumental ones, dominating them
and their textures; and yet full of air and free as a bird;--
that voice of J. D. Walter.
I heard him first at The DeerHead Inn, after the owner told
me on the phone, "Oh yeah, we got this guy from North Texas,
a Jazz singer." Well, That got me, my alma mater—my
metier—I gotta check this out. I slid in during his second
number and was introduced to the timbre of his instument and
the style of his delivery of—yes—standards, and the
power of his vocal improvisations. Of course we talked and became
friends and colleagues. And now—this CD. You’re gonna
dig it.. you better and you oughta. I think it’s a highwater
mark in Vocal Jazz.
I am often asked about the state of Jazz and wither it goest.
Now, with this recording by J.D. Walter and his musicians, I
have my answer. We have here an absolutely modern music grounded
in the tradition of all that has gone before us: Music that
inspires and points the way to a new millenium of Jazz music.
Singer- leader- arranger- songwriter J.D. Walter, from south
central Pennsylvania, attended the University of North Texas,
a most pre-eminent school in Jazz Education, studying on scholarships
and winning many awards and plaudits. He went on to live and
study in Amsterdam with recording artist Deborah Brown, a teacher
at the Conservatory For the Arts. J.D.’s return to his
native Pennsylvania found him seizing countless oppurtunities
for peforming with some of the greatest musicians in the Eastern
area.
For this recording, J.D. has surrounded himself with four of
the greatest young musicians! What a company he keeps! I am
absolutely stunned by the work of pianist Jean-Michel Pilc,
who has already built a fomidable body of work in his native
France as performer, arranger, accompanist and composer. With
drummer Greg Hutchinson on drums(one of the new breed of drummers
profiled in the New York Times and formerly with Betty Carter
and Ray Brown) and highly experienced and acomplished Steve
Varner on bass, the rhythm section sizzles under the leadership
of Mr. Pilc. John Swana, on trumpet and flugelhorn, with his
mellifluous sound and melodic ideas, joins in at the right moments.
Together they take us through a thrilling ride. With five standards,
one Bill Evans, one Stevie Wonder, and one Nat King Cole song,
plus one original, the title song by J.D. himself, "Sirens
in the C-House"
His sirens? A Goup of fans, female ones, who came to his gigs
at The Carriage House ("See Ya at the C-House"), and
came again and again and brought or sent others, helping to
build his following , the kind of support needed by an artist
of this stature, who comes out of no where and preseveres through
indifference and all odds, leading to his poetic payback to
them and their ilk:
Sirens In The C-House
I hear their sweet song, that never longs for company.
Angels three long for me….
And though I know I’ll never have…not one,
Please don’t ever leave…
Sirens in the C- House singin’ their song,
And, all aloft their thrones, intone: A calling for me…
Blessed Angels of the barstool…bless you..
For nurturing and giving to us this gift of song from afar.
-Bob Dorough-
A songwriter, producer, arranger, musical director of SCHOOL
HOUSE ROCK, Blue note recording artist..Bob Dorough is heard
in Bethlehem, Focus, Evidence, Laissez-Faire, and now on Blue
Note records exclusively. |
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