Search - Chris Conner :: Lover Come Back to Me

Chris Connor in retrospect.

Mary Whipple | New England | 06/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded live on NPR in 1981, when Chris Connor was thirty years into her amazing jazz career, this 1995 recording sounds like a retrospective. Most of the songs here are standards--some songs made famous by other artists, but with some of her best included, too. Her voice is lower and raspier than when she was at her peak, and she occasionally misses a note, but her spirit, her sense of timing, her dramatic attention to lyrics, and her ability at quiet improvisation are as brilliant as ever. Backed only by a trio--Fred Hirsch on piano, Stephen LaSpina on bass, and Tony Tedesco on drums--Connor alternates lively and quieter songs. She is in her element here, providing an intimate concert in a small venue with minimal accompaniment.



Among the outstanding tracks here is "Any Place I Hang My Hat," starting with a subtle bass, shifting into swing, and then breaking out into a strong and lively ending. "Where Flamingoes Fly," often associated with Sinatra, is one of her best. A dramatic lament, sung mournfully, Connor makes the listener feel the agony of someone whose lover did not have a passport and was shipped back to the islands, 1000 miles away. Billie Holiday's "Good Morning, Heartache," and Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin" get her own treatment here, and "Lover Come Back to Me," the title song, is one of the best on the album--swingy, containing some improvisation, and ending with wild energy.



The unusual song "Glad to Be Unhappy," beginning as a lovely, soft ballad, is sweeter than most of the other songs in this collection, and "Just in Time" allows her to really let loose. "I Hear the Music Now," my favorite on the CD, starts out in swing, adding more percussion and stronger beat until Connor is wailing, reminding the listener of Chris Connor as a younger star.



If you are new to Connor and are looking for one of her best live performances, you may want to check out Chris Connor "Live at the Village Gate," recorded in 1963. In this current recording, which long-time fans will enjoy, she reprises some of the songs she made famous, reminding us that she's still going strong despite the passage of thirty years. n Mary Whipple



At the Village Gate

Sings Lullabies of Birdland

Sweet and Swinging



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