Search - Janice Borla :: Agents of Change (Reis)

BEAUTIFUL & DARING JAZZ VOCALS & SOLOS

RBSProds | Deep in the heart of Texas | 02/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Five WONDERFUL Stars!! Janice Borla is a great jazz singer with superb technique, flawless time, and precise tonal control, which she uses to great advantage on some of the more daring songs on the CD. She sings and swings mostly from inside the group rather than floating on top of their music. One look at the list of songs shows she is swimming deep in the jazz pool: such as Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" (with her lyrics) and Joe Lovano's "[Ed] Blackwell's Message" (great drum introduction, no lyrics necessary: great scat and solos all the way) are clear indications that there is pure jazz singing and hot playing ahead on this CD.



The 'Pieces De Resistance', the best of the best, begin with Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" for which she had provided some nice topical lyrics and the group gives a superb performance that bounces and flows like Henderson's big band performance of this song. Then there is Bill Evans' "Remembering The Rain" with her lyrics and another great performance. Homage to the legendary Abby Lincoln comes thru an elegant latin-based vocal reading of "Throw It Away" with some great guitar and vibes solos. A bravura "Israel" returns to the 'all scat and instrumental solos' format. "Battle Report", lyrics from a Bob Kaufmann poem, is an acquired taste which reveals itself as a true group performance that becomes more enjoyable with each succeeding listen. "The Aerie" has some great solo voice, unison voice and flugelhorn work and a great solos from Bob Bowman on bass, Art Davis on flugelhorn, and Dan Haerle's piano.



"The Peacocks" deserves special attention. It is a beautiful performance of this magnificent Jimmy Rowles piece, one of the best jazz ballads ever composed, with Janice really nailing this performance using truly haunting Norma Winstone lyrics and stretching the elasticity of an already dissonant bridge. I have heard the original instrumental version with Stan Getz and Jimmy Rowles in a marvelous duo performance and the Bill Evans Trio (with Philly Joe Jones) version and this superb version shines because of Janice's lush delivery of the lyrics, a really nice piano & bass solo, the 2 passes over the surprising bridge, and the ending.



Janice Borla is a wonderful jazz singer, and her band is wonderful as well (Rich Fudoli: reeds; Art Davis: brass; Brad Stirtz: vibraharp; Fareed Haque: guitars; Dan Haerle: piano; Bob Bowman: bass, and Jack Mouse: drums). I really enjoyed these performances. "Agents of change", indeed. Highly recommended! Five JAZZY Stars!"

Agents Of Change

Huck Finn | Atlanta | 10/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Janice Borla is maybe the greatest female vocalist in the world , in my opinion.

I almost let this one get by me. She had released this new music and I didn't know it till later.

I would like to know if Amazon can get any older discs which are considered "out of print"

If so, I'll certainly buy all of Janice Borla's older music. Her music is "magic" !

Thanks Amazon."