Alyssa Allgood

From Here

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Chicago-based jazz vocalist Alyssa Allgood delivers her fourth album, From Here, with ten of the dozen as originals, a step up from previous efforts, and surrounds herself with top tier accompaniment. GRAMMY winners, bassist John Patitucci and pianist Geoffrey Keezer, drummer Kendrick Scott, saxophonist Greg Ward, and producer, jazz vocalist Jeff Baker.  Keezer, Scott, and Ward are all bandleaders, attesting to the level of expertise in the ensemble. From the outset, as we accustom ourselves to her rather unusual contralto voice, we quickly take note of her advanced phrasing, scatting, and inherent ability to swing. The tunes are rife with personal expression and emotion from self-love to stoicism to resilience, and openness.  The backing quartet gives her plenty of freedom and she in turn boosts her own confidence, assured that they will be with her, as she’s more explorative than heard on past recordings.

“Burn (For Betty),” an homage to Betty Carter, and true to her hero, features two arresting scat vocal spots, and exciting, improvisational solos from Ward and Keezer, letting us know from the outset that this is not your typical jazz vocal album. The swinging “Your Wings” is a clarion call to feel free and explorative. (“Change is calling/No Need for stalling”) Keezer glistens in his solo and Allgood scats once again. The gentle waltz of “Brave Little Flower” is one that Allgood considers her signature composition. Inspired, as outlined in the opening verse, by a little flower sprouting among boulders lining the shore of Lake Michigan, it’s her ultimate paean to resilience with a sturdy pizzicato turn from Patitucci and Keezer’s expressive piano.  Following his solo, Allgood wails in wall-shattering vocals – “Where you are planted/Does not define you/For your roots spread much further/And carry your truth.”

We see another side of her as she turns sassy, defiant, and witty in the rhythmically choppy “No Good,” featuring another strong scatting turn and potent traps work from Scott, who also sets up “Other Side,” an interesting take on break-up, moves from a mid-tempo ballad to a blistering pace and then back, as she hits some impossibly high notes, blending remarkably with Ward’s alto, as heard on other songs too.  The ballad “Above All Else” extends the break-up topic by stressing the need to eject the other partner before one can realize the satisfaction that ensues afterwards. Keezer embodies a tone of regret in his elegant support.

“Dream” flows easily and features the altoist’s lyrical turn in the break. The tune addresses self-love, made paramount in the closing verse – “Stop wishing on the moon/Start working for you/That’s when your dreams come true.”  “Still Searching” expounds on that theme, emphasizing the struggles of the journey in darker tones mixed with her extraordinary upper range as the quartet is kinetic underneath, making way for another probing passage from Ward.  Yet, she expresses genuine love in “Time Told,” written for her fiancé and imbued by Ward’s simpatico, spiraling solo.  Allgood’s melodic sense, strong throughout, reaches its peak on “Turn to Gold,” another one about embracing change, with Patitucci showing why he is one of jazz’s revered bassists in his poignant turn, a balance to Allgood’s stratospheric range.

Two others that fit thematically are Joni Mitchell’s timeless “Both Sides Now” and the Broadway chart topper “On a Clear Day.” Allgood assesses the double meaning of the album by pointing out that these songs are indeed reflective eof her own journey but also a demarcation point, saying, “This album is a statement of who I am as a modern jazz vocalist: everything that happens next will be defined from here.”  She has certainly challenged herself, setting a high bar.

• Jim Hynes

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