Perpetual Change — “Baby Dee Goes Down To Amsterdam”

CD Review

We first introduced Baby Dee to TGForum readers back in December, 2008, with an overview of her then most recent recording, Safe Inside The Day. We were unable to obtain an interview at that time, but made up for that with the recent April, 2012 posting of an exclusive interview with Dee, and in May ran a review of her newest release, Regifted Light.

Dee was gracious enough to include a couple of her other albums along with the material she sent at that time. These were A Book Of Songs For Anne Marie, and the live project, Baby Dee Goes Down To Amsterdam. For this month’s installment, Perpetual Change presents a review of the …Amersterdam project.

This album is a two-disc release, recorded live for VPRO Radio at The Bimhuis, Amsterdam, for the 2009 Holland Festival. The project contains 20 songs gleaned from several of Dee’s recordings up to that period of time. She is accompanied by Joe Carvell on contrabass, John Contreras on cello, and drummer Alex Neilson. Dee herself plays harp and piano.

Baby Dee

Before discussing the actual music, we should mention the CD packaging itself. The art work is reminiscent of old woodcut prints, which complements the story included on the inside cover. The title of the album comes from a sort of fairy tale version of an unfortunate incident in Dee’s past involving her work as a tree trimmer. Needless to say, this was an obvious turning point, both personally and professional. Her incorporating it here as the catalyst that initiated the trip to Amsterdam is very creative.

Musically, this was a better live album than I anticipated hearing. Not knowing what Dee sounds like live, and only being familiar with a couple of her albums, I guess I was expecting a more sparse sound. I’m a bit of a sucker for harp anyway, and Dee’s playing gives the songs where she’s the only musical accompaniment to her voice an extremely full sound. The best examples are The Robin’s Tiny Throat, the album’s lead-off tune, and Half A Chance from the second disc.

Dee gradually works the other musicians into the performance, especially with very well planned use of Contreras cello work as accompaniment to her voice and harp. Love’s Small Song and Book Of Songs For Anne Marie are best examples. She offers the same balance of a full sound, yet somehow produces a sparse feeling when she moves to piano, accompanying her voice along with the cello. Examples here are Lilacs (very classical feeling and one of the better moments on the project), and Regifted Light.

By bringing the band on gradually, Dee builds a feeling of anticipation, avoids the “same-old-same-old” trap, and allows herself the freedom to play different instruments and show her chops off a bit.

Safe Inside The Day is one of the better examples of Dee’s music played by a small but talented band. The one track on the first disc is one of the project’s overall standouts. It’s very dynamic, even somewhat theatrical, while managing to find an easy tempo.

Disc one closes out with the remaining tunes — Compass Of Light, The Earlie King, When I Get Home, and So Bad — all played by the full band.

On Disc Two, Dee talks more to the audience, makes comments about the band, and in general is more communicative. Some listeners don’t mind hearing the artist talk a lot during a live performance, some do. It’s your call as the listener regarding talking on any live album.

Regardless, the musical chops continue unabated. Dee comfortably moves from mellow material to unique tunes such as The Only Bones That Show, which utilizes the full band, and has a sort of theatrical, vaudeville feel.

A very comedic moment comes with the tune A Big Titty Bee Girl (From Dino Town). Once again with the full band, but this time sounding like something out of the 1930s.

Two stand-out tracks on disc two are Black But Comely, which offers an excellent balance between Dee’s harp and the cello, and the closing track, The Song Of Self Acceptance, a piano solo and a very funny ending.

On hearing Baby Dee Goes Down To Amsterdam, it’s very obvious that she loves playing live, and knows how to keep an audience engaged. The musicianship is impeccable and the compositions are intricate and very classical in scope. Baby Dee’s voice is definitely an acquired taste, but she’s very operatic and theatrical in her presentation. Her voice does fit perfectly with her lyrics and her music. The only possible thing close to a criticism I have about the entire project concerns the way the drums were mixed. They’re just not full enough, and it makes for a rather inconsistent drum sound.

Baby Dee’s music is very personal and inward looking, but not in an egocentric way. She’s sharing herself and inviting you to find the common ground as a listener — and as a life participant.

The next Perpetual Change, which according to scheduling will be posted later this month, will feature a review of yet another Baby Dee album, A Book Of Songs For Anne Marie. Dee was gracious enough to share her music with TGForum, and we’re more than happy to promote this very talented artist. For more information on Baby Dee, check out her website. She’s also on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, with some of her music available through amazon.com.

ALSO THIS MONTH

Jessup

Georgie Jessup, is at work on new album project.

I made mention a while back of east coast musician Georgie Jessup’s upcoming release of her newest project called Philosopher Dogs. Georgie was kind of enough to forward a few downloads from the session for this project my way and I want to offer a sort of “mini-review” of the five cuts I’ve already heard.

Georgie does a great cover of the old Johnny Cash standard, Ring Of Fire. Great guitar work and great harmonies.

The title cut of the new project, Philosopher Dogs, is given a full band production. Overall, it’s light rock with keyboards, and very dynamic. The song is about the clutter we all pile up in our lives . . . “too much stuff wears you down”.

Geronimo’s Bones is somewhat reminiscent of Randy Newman, in a way. (“. . . doesn’t matter how they used his bones, they’ll never have his power.”)

Georgie delves into country swing territory (i.e. Bob Wills) with Lost Paradise. This is a very traditional country swing with fiddle.

Red Cloud’s Room is a remake of one of Georgie’s earlier songs. This time around, Georgie used steel guitar on the tune, and gave the song a sort of laid back, yet intense feel. Her voice is probably at it’s most emotional here. Compared to the original version, which is most acoustic and feels like something you’d hear in an intimate coffee house setting, the song’s message just seems to have a greater impact.

Georgie herself probably regards this as one of the project’s better tracks. “I never get tired of this song,” she said. “I recorded it a while ago when I first wrote it, but this version is awesome. I don’t always listen to my songs over and over, but this is the exception. Great bass and drums and everything.” (For more information,  )

Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour Continues

The last show for Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour at New York City’s The Duplex was sold out. More shows have been scheduled for Aug. 5, Aug. 16, and Aug. 26. And, according to Rev. Yolanda, the Old Time Gospel Hour will be hitting the road in the fall. Shows are being booked in the northeast and as far south as Florida. To keep track of what’s up with Rev. Yolanda and where The Old Time Hour will be next, please check out her website. To book a show, please contact her by email.

NEW MUSIC

Lots of new dance music out there, and space doesn’t allow for extensive coverage of everything, but briefly, here is some of the best that has come to my attention lately.

Leah Labelle

I received a five song EP of Labelle’s, which is a sample of her debut album due out this fall. The first three tunes — So Hot, Sexify, and Make Me Get Up — are dance groove tunes. Okay, well and good, but the market has tons of that out there right now. What caught my ear was What Do We Got To Lose?, which proves Labelle has vocal chops beyond her years. The tune is R&B flavored, laid back with a somewhat sparse arrangement and excellent harmonies. My personal favorite on the EP is the last cut, Mr. Scissors. This is rock, which only goes to prove that Labelle has a range that enables her to be confident with any genre. This girl can do R&B, rock, techno — and do it all very well — and can sound like either a white singer or a black singer. Amazing voice we’ll all be hearing more of. ()

Kat Graham

Kat Graham’s Against The Wall is another of those projects that can take you by surprise, The four song EP  I received definitely has the expected dance material. The first two tunes are Put Your Graffiti On Me and Heart Killer. Good dance material. What I didn’t expect was Wanna Say, which is very dynamic and almost sounds like a stretch for Graham vocally. That’s not a criticism, though, because she really nails the power in this song. Supa Dope, the last cut on the EP, once again is a vocal stretch which comes off like bombastic techno (if there is such a thing), but Graham’s voice captures what the song needs. (Kat Graham is on Twitter and Facebook)

Rita Ora

I also received a four song remix disc of Rita Ora’s How Do We Party. These are remixes by Laidback Luke, Paperchaser, Sandro Silvo, and Gustovao Scorpiro of her debut U.S. single. All very danceable material.

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Category: Music