Stacey & Alan
A Love Like Ours
Night Night, the Elephant Productions
Reviewed By: Mike Perciaccante
Alan Schulman holds a Masters degree Jazz Arranging & Composition from Howard University. The guitarist was born in Cincinnati and has appeared on numerous jazz recordings by among others Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, Anita Baker and Michael Feinstein. Stacey Schulman (yes they are married) is a native New Yorker who has been singing professionally since she was nine years old. She made her musical bones as a New York City studio singer contributing vocals on tracks for radio commercials, television series as well as for artists such as Chaka Khan.
The New York area-based duo has been performing together since 2005. In 2010, Stacey contracted Lyme disease, most probably while hiking in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the disease went undiagnosed and then misdiagnosed for quite some time. Misdiagnosis is common with Lyme disease. Unfortunately for Stacey her disease went undetected and its became fully disseminated, thus impacting her neurological system. The disease caused an irregularity (a lop-sidedness) in her vocal chords that left her unable to sing. She spent approximately two years undergoing treatment. Needless to say, Stacey and Alan were unable to perform together during this time.
Following her treatment, after Stacey was able to regain her singing voice, the couple decided to record their debut CD. A Love Like Ours was recorded in Italy while Stacey recuperated from her therapy. Stacey still battles the insidious disease (as do many others). She has for the most-part recovered, but still battles the fatigue, flu-like symptoms and joint pains associated with the disease (which is contracted through the bite of a tick).
As a Lyme disease survivor, Stacey (and Alan) have decided to partner with the Global Lyme Alliance to raise awareness about the disease. In an effort to fight the disease and continue to educate the general public regarding the disease, the duo has also chosen to donate all proceeds from the sale of the CD to the non-profit organization.
The A Love Like Ours is nothing short of enchanting. The arrangements are familiar, but not the old hackneyed versions that have by this day-in-age become tired. The bluesy, jazzy, soulful, smokey, bass-heavy re-arrangement of “Summertime” (the CDs opening track) works because Stacey’s voice is so expressive and on this songs almost haunting.
Other Highlights include: the bare-bones version (musically) of Burt Bachrach’s and Hal David’s “Alfie” that very much sticks (vocally) to the original arrangement, the bouncy version of “Night and Day,” the sexy torch song “Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You,” “Never Let Me Go,” a beautiful slow “Sophisticated Lady” (the Duke Ellington/ Mitchell Parish-penned jazz standard), “When Sunny Gets Blue” (which instantly transports the listener back in time to a smoky ’50s jazz club), the version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that would make Judy Garland proud and the title track, a beautiful cover of Barbra Streisand’s “A Love Like Ours.”
The performances and sparse arrangements on A Love Like Ours make it an excellent, smooth and relaxing jazz option that should be listened to while sipping a glass of wine on romantic evenings at spent home with that special someone.
The CD is a love letter from Stacey to Alan and from Alan to Stacey. It’s also a romantic gesture from the loving couple that shows that Lyme disease can be beaten and that after contracting the disease, with proper medical attention, it can be managed. The album’s fourteen song line-up could have easily appeared on a Michael Bublé, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand or Natalie Cole CD. None of those performers could have delivered a more dynamic release.
A Love Like Ours Tracklist:
1. Summertime
2. Never Let Me Go
3. Gone With the Wind
4. Alfie
5. Night and Day
6. Sophisticated Lady
7. Four
8. When Sunny Gets Blue
9. Out of Nowhere
10. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
11. Shiny Stockings
12. Estate
13. Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You
14. A Love Like Ours
Credits:
Stacey Schulman – vocals
Alan Schulman – guitar, bass
Genre: Jazz
The Grahams
Glory Bound
12 South Records/Red Distribution
Reviewed By: Mike Perciaccante
Friends since their childhood, Alyssa and Doug Graham are now husband and wife. They are also a duo to be reckoned with. Their music is a joyous melange of country, folk, blues, roots, bluegrass and pop with some jazzy elements thrown in for good measure. It’s definitely American music. If one were asked to place the Grahams into a genre or define the duo’s music the best and most simplistic term would be Americana. Americana if only for the fact that its an umbrella term for a hard-to-define musical genre that is a mix of country, blues, roots, pop, jazz, bluegrass, folk with just the slightest dash of rock ‘n’ roll.
The Grahams are all of those things and more. On Glory BoundAlyssa and Doug continue right where Riverman’s Daughter (12 South Records/Red Distribution, 2013) left off. The CD features more wonderful stories told in musical form with songs–nostalgic songs, happy songs and yearning songs about desire, longing and regret.
How else does one explain the title track which features the lyric “I wish hadn’t done the things did when I was young all the little tablets I melted on my tongue.” If that doesn’t perk the ears up immediately, nothing does. And it doesn’t stop there, the next eleven tracks are all driven by Alyssa’s powerful vocals and the duo’s strong lyrics.
Following a trip down the Mississippi River’s historic Great River Road, Riverman’s Daughter was recorded in an effort to pay tribute to the mighty river and the folks who live near the Mississippi and off of the bountry it provides. It was a beautifully envisioned testament to and document of the American condition. Glory Bound has a similar story behind its genesis. After taking a series of train trips, Alyssa and Doug sought to tell the story of the heyday of the great American railroads and their treks across the plains, prairies and wide open spaces that make up our great country.
They succeeded. The resulting CD features stories that would not have been out-of-place on an album by the Band, by Neil Young or by Johnny Cash. The songs blend personal detail (whether made up or autobiographical) with good old-fashioned country ethos. The musical genres on which the Grahams lay their hats, are all over the map. There is country, as expected, gospel, blues and folk. The beauty of this music is the overall genuine western feel of both the prose and the playing.
Of the many highlights to be found on Glory Bound, “Gambling Girl” with its blues harp, “Kansas City” (featuring a dueling guitar and violin), “The Spinner,” the ballad “Biscuits,” “The Wild One” (which would have been at home with Levon Helm on vocals) “Lay Me Down” and the defiant “Griggstown” are all excellent. The title track as well as “Mama” (with its gospel-tinged arrangement) are also among the cream of this crop.
Alyssa’s voice is a powerful, amazing and astounding instrument. It makes the listener take notice without delay. Doug plays like a virtuoso, his fingers dancing over the strings. He can pick, pluck and strum with the best of them. The album features honest and real lyrics. The music and performances are riveting, touching on the past and all of its beauty while holding one foot firmly in the present. Glory Bound is a modern day classic.
The deluxe promotional version of the album features the soundtrack to the Rattle The Hocks documentary which was produced by the Mississippi All-Stars Cody Dickinson features live versions of “Griggstown,” “Gambling Girl,” “Glory Bound,” “Lay Me Down,” “Tender Annabelle,” “Kansas City,” “Mama,” “Biscuits,” “Blow Wind Blow,” “The Spinner,” “City of New Orleans” and “Big John.”
Glory Bound Tracklist:
1. Glory Bound
2. Gambling Girl
3. Blow Wind Blow
4. Lay Me Down
5. Kansas City
6. Mama
7. The Wild One
8. Griggstown
9. Biscuits
10. Borderland
11. The Spinner
12. Promised Land
Credits:
Alyssa Graham – acoustic guitar, vocals
Doug Graham – acoustic guitar, dobro, vocals
Byron Berline – fiddle, mandolin
Ryan Engleman – electric guitar, pedal steel guitar
John Fullbright – guitar, harmonica, piano
Camille Harp – background vocals
Gabe Pearson – drums, percussion
Wes Sharon – bass, percussion
Dan Walker – accordion, electric organ, piano
Genre: Americana
