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Mindi Abair
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Life Less Ordinary
GRP Records
Release: 4/18/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Morley Seaver
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If you're looking for something to offset the day's traffic, work and other stress, look no further than Mindi Abair's newest record Life Less Ordinary. This record is akin to entering a walk-in beer cooler at your local establishment on a hot summer day. Not jazz. Not pop. This disc is a melding of both, resulting in a very palatable combo.
The record begins with "Do You Miss Me?," a cool jazz selection that also has Abair delivering a sexy couple of vocal lines that are repeated at various times throughout. Of course, the main attraction is her confident sax work and that's the backbone of the song.
The sassy saxophone heard before powers "Long Ride Home," an upbeat piece that is among the best on the record. Abair covers Rickie Lee Jones' "It Must Be Love" and her delicate voice really helps make this cut. More vocals please, Mindi.
My favorite cut on here is "True Blue," with its hypnotizing sax line that just casts a line and reels you in.
There are plenty of special guests on the record, namely her main collaborator and former Berklee College of Music Matthew Hager on guitars, bass and percussion. The rest of the crew is a who's who of session players like Michael Landau, Ricky Peterson, Stevo Theard, Paulhino Da Costa and many more. Needless to say, the playing on this record is crisp.
This is Abair's third record. Her previous two records really turned heads and her debut was lodged in the Top 10 in the Contemporary Jazz charts for a whopping 19 weeks. Aaron Spelling took one of her songs for his series Summerland, and she was featured in a "Woman in Jazz" feature on the Grammys that was shown on the Jumbotron in Times Square. Life Less Ordinary should continue her winning streak. |
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