For Dinah

Ledisis second album of 2025, For Dinah can also be seen as a follow-up to Ledisi Sings Nina, her Grammy-nominated homage to Nina Simone. The singers bond with the music of Dinah Washington began to form when she heard it through her mother. It was strengthened through her jazz studies at UC Berkeley and has continued throughout her career, culminating in this thoughtful interpretive set she produced beside top-tier bassist Christian McBride and Rex Rideout, her longtime collaborator. Like Ledisi Sings Nina, For Dinah is both reverent and creative. Although brass and string sections fill out the sound in all the right places, this is considerably more intimate with Ledisi backed primarily by a trio: McBride on bass, McClenty Hunter on drums, and either Xavier Davis or the emergent Mike King on piano. The players are especially sparing on Ledisis pensive reading of "What a Difference a Day Made," while only guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr. accompanies the singer on "You Go to My Head," evoking a cool, gentle breeze. Ledisi is most captivating on the numbers that are more sensual and/or energized. Her performance of Cole Porters "Lets Do It" is off the meter, too poised and nuanced to be heard as pure camp. "Youve Got What It Takes" is duly rollicking like the original, a number five pop hit in 1960, and aptly pairs Ledisi with Gregory Porter (her Black Radio III duet partner) in Brook Bentons role. In "If I Never Get to Heaven," the only song on the set that Washington co-wrote, Ledisi takes the albums greatest artistic license with a dazzling scat solo and somehow finishes it out in even more commanding fashion. A rousing "You Dont Know What Love Is" and an impeccable reading of the ever-relevant "This Bitter Earth" are among the high points of the album and quite possibly Ledisis catalog. Further testament to Washingtons body of work is that the selections here overlap only slightly with those of Aretha Franklins Unforgettable, Yvette Freemans A Tribute to Dinah Washington, and Deborah Coxs Destination Moon. In the hands of Ledisi and company, these songs are brimming with as much spirit in 2025 as they did 61 years earlier, when Franklin released her Washington tribute album. ~ Andy Kellman

今年2作目の新作は、4年前のニーナ・シモン・カヴァー集と似た企画でダイナ・ワシントンをトリビュート。クリスチャン・マクブライドとの共同制作で、ブルック・ベントンとの共演で有名な曲をグレゴリー・ポーターと掛け合えば、人気のスタンダードをポール・ジャクソンJrのギター一本で歌う。ダイナに敬意を払いつつ明朗な声に情熱を込めて自身の歌唱を貫いた快作だ。
bounce (C)林剛