Devorah Day - Light of Day
(Abaton)
Like a film of indiscriminate era, Light of Day, the debut of jazz vocalist Devorah Day, has a timeless quality that leads one to second-guess its recent release date, even after a double check. Day's smooth and expressive voice, along with the sparse music that backs it, conjures hazy visions of days of jazz long gone, even if a closer look offers hints that reveal a more modern recording. What also creates this feeling of the past is Day's decision to cover three jazz standards, "Lila," "Lover Man," and "Dindi," while offering only three compositions of her own design. The material flows well, however, and Day's own pieces, though a bit more adventurous than the standards, aren't necessarily immediately obvious as her own.
Former Coltrane sideman Marion Brown, Jorge Sylvester, and Booker T. do most of the accompanying on Light of Day with their saxophones, and bassist David Colding and vocalist Kid Lucky round out the peculiar sextet. Day's throaty and well-ranged vocals are unquestionably the focal point of the album, though the sparse saxophones, which create the musical ties between her lines are mixed loudly enough that they sometimes obstruct the full fluidity of Day's voice. When Brown, however, plays alone with Day on the post-scat improvisation of "Our Bit of Piddling," the two coexist more comfortably.
There's something comforting about Light of Day, whether it's a feel of historic nostalgia for the era in which the music that Day slyly contorts first existed, or simply the relaxed, easy-flowing feel of the music. Even when Day plays most obviously with the standard idioms of jazz vocals, Light of Day always feels familiar and welcoming, even for someone such as myself who might not usually find themselves listening to exactly this sort of jazz.
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