Search - Mike Gellar with Christiana Drapkin :: Got The World On A String

With their whimsical CD-package Got the World on a String , (cover design by Tom Shultz) vocalist Christiana Drapkin and guitarist Mike Gellar seem to take the title song as their motto and launch into a joyous celebration of life, love, and music. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, a Cole Porter classic, is given a cool, up-tempo treatment that shows the musicians bebop sensibilities, while staying true to the grace and romance of the original. Mike and Christiana change pace with their duo treatment of Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington s The Nearness of You , one of the earliest tunes they shared when they met over a dozen years earlier. Mike Gellar truly shines on his melodic lines like Oscar Pettiford s Laverne Walk, one of the two instrumental cuts on this CD. Mike is comfortable and creative in his jazz vocabulary, and at the same time he lets his rock roots from half a lifetime ago shine ago. Along these more contemporary lines, Mike and Christiana worked up Friends Again, a line by West Coast saxophonist Lanny Morgan that is based on the standard Just Friends . Mike has this to say about improvising with Christiana: We love the interplay and counterpoint that happens between us. I look at Christiana as a jazz musician, who is adventuresome, rather than as a vocalist who sings with jazz musicians. She brings a great deal of joy to the music and is not afraid to take chances. They re certainly not afraid to take chances with their choice to include Jimmy Rowles s The Peacocks , a haunting ballad with lyrics by Norma Winstone. The sinuous phrases that stretch over almost two octaves, and the chromatic passages in the bridge are a challenge for any vocalist who still has to make lyrical and musical sense in their delivery. Miss Drapkin certainly rises to the occasion, ably supported not only by guitar and bass, but especially by Dominic Smith s imaginative percussion work. Time to exhale with The Way You Look Tonight , the other instrumental cut on this CD, here as a light jazz waltz. Mike sets the mood with his lilting phrasing, and one can hear the influence of his heroes, guitarists Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Oscar Moore. Bob Shann s bass solo is lighthearted and nimble, and Dominic Smith s brushwork on his solo is just lovely. Mike introduced Christiana to some 1970s recordings of Nancy King, which took them to a fairly recent recording of King s There s a Small Hotel with Fred Hersh. Here, with the help of Chris Battistone s phrasings, the group turns this old Lorenz & Hart tune into a moment of very private musings between two lovers. Why include Redd Stewart s and Pee Wee King s Tennessee Waltz" on a jazz album? Again, in a grateful nod to the wonderful Nancy King, who s never hampered by narrow genre definitions, they include her re-harmonized version. Mike keeps bringing his more contemporary repertoire into the mix, and here they share the rarely heard musical line of guitarist Jack Wilkins s For Baden . You re Looking at Me , a beautifully constructed walking ballad by Bobby Troup (who also wrote Route 66 ), testifies to Mike s admiration for Nat (King) Cole s work. Trumpeter Chris Battistone adds his subtle obbligato lines behind Christiana s phrasing. East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) evokes Mike and Christiana s many times on the bandstand, and their love for trading and harmonic interplay when soloing together. Their intimate duo treatment of You Stepped out of a Dream , dances with time and rhythm. Trumpeter Chris Battistone joins the quartet again on I'll Remember April;. His confident line helps the music flow in an effortless way. Drummer Dominic Smith is a master of taste, dynamics and texture.