Two Brooklyn musicians have teamed up to
record "Songs About You," a collection of 12 jazz standards
and new works, on Iana Records. The second album by jazz vocalist
Christiana Drapkin, "Songs About You," is a collaboration
with composer and pianist Charles Sibirsky.
Drapkin, who is no stranger to jazz, has been displaying her
musical eloquence in and around the New York area for over a
dozen years. Sibirsky, who acts as the album’s musical director
and heads the music school Slope Music with his wife Vida, plays
piano and even helped pen several of the CD’s originals. The
album’s tracks draw a great deal from the sounds of bebop and
build upon traditional jazz standards from the likes of Charlie
Parker and Thelonious Monk.
Generally, "Songs about You" floats in and out of romantic
space but never strays into the far reaches of sentimentality.
Drapkin, a Kensington resident, maintains a firm grounding in
cool wistfulness. Vocally, she cites her main influences Ella
Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day and Billie Holiday in her precise delivery.
Although when she’s scatting atop fine jazz numbers like "Just
Friends," she recognizes Louis Armstrong and Parker for
their scatting expertise. She floats over bassist Murray Hill’s
walking bassline on the album’s opener "Time on My Hands
(You in My Arms)."
Sibirsky’s understated piano playing is gentle and heard favorably
on songs like "You Don’t Know What Love is" and on
one of his original compositions, the title track "Songs
about You." Drapkin’s delicate and deliberate singing on
standouts like "Open Your Heart" highlights the album’s
sparse, minimalist jazz. The song, penned by Sibirsky, has a
bossa nova feel that is heavily accented by the light finger-picking
of guitarist John Merrill.
Other highlights of this CD include another Sibirsky original
called "Formation." The song’s quick tempo and intricate
rhythmic grounding is carefully laid down by the interplay between
bass and piano. On "Monkery’s the Blues" we see the
duo expanding on the Monk composition "Blue Monk."
(Drapkin, who’s known for delving into Monk tunes live, dedicates
this track to the memory of Carmen McRae, the bebop singer who
passed away in 1991.) With lyrics from songwriter and jazz singer
Abbey Lincoln, "Monkery’s the Blues" showcases Drapkin’s
insistent vocal ability, allowing this Monk melody to truly take
flight.
Another admirable jazz rendition on the album is of Parker’s
"Now’s the Time," reinvented as "Procrastination
Blues." The song, with its humorous lyrics written by Dori
Levine, is another example of the duo’s understanding of witty
words mixed with bebop sensibilities.
Drapkin and Sibirsky close with "Out of Nowhere," a
standard which displays most closely the duo’s comfortable ability
to collaborate smoothly. Truly, their "Songs about You,"
offers up subtle and refined bebop for the connoisseur of independent
jazz.
Christiana Drapkin and Charles Sibirsky’s
"Songs About You: Jazz Standards & New Tunes" (Iana
Records) is available at www.cdbaby.com and www.dcjazz.com.
Drapkin will perform with bassist Stephanie Greig at Freddy’s
Backroom for "Minimalist Chick Jazz" on Oct. 12, Nov.
16, Dec. 14 and Jan. 11 at 9 pm. Freddy’s is located at 485 Dean
St. at Sixth Avenue in Prospect Heights. For more information
about these performances, visit the Web site www.freddysbackroom.com
or call (718) 622-7035. For more information about Drapkin, visit
www.christianadrapkin.com.