Kimmy Kearse - "I Give You Me".
Great Voice and lyrics with Classic Jazz/R&B Sound
equals Powerful solo Debut...Once again in an effort to promote lesser-known artists and their
albums and to be one of the first to introduce new artists to Jazz
enthusiasts, retro-centrics and vintage aficionados, I’ve come across a
few new Rhythm and Blues album from an artist of whom I genuinely hope
that more
people will hear from in the years to come with future releases.
With Kimmy Kearse's CD, I was sent one-page sheet with a brief bio
which revealed that she wrote the songs she sang on her album. She’s a double threat
of singer song/writer and has the integrity to perform her own
material. Now, let me answer the question for myself if this album’s
any good.
The answer is pretty simple. I enjoyed it – and I think that readers
will too. Kimmie Kearse isn’t a knock off of Billy Holiday or another
Ella Fitzgerald, but you can hear some of their influences in some of
her music. This isn’t by the books retro-jazz or blues, either. Much
like Jamie Cullum’s “Catching Tales,” she makes the genre her own with
just a subtle hip-hop on some of her songs.
Kimmie is also a generous artist, letting the other musicians perform
on the same audio level as her, more than main stream artists do. She
and the producers aren’t afraid to let the bass guitar and piano be
equal to her voice… one of my greatest annoyances is that on many other
albums the bass album is pushed back into the background, not so on
this album. If you want to hear the guitars, you can hear them. Want to
hear the trumpet that’s played on one of my favorite songs on this
album, “One For Me?” You don’t have to struggle and strain to do so.
Not like Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston (or some live performances by
Faith Hill) who compete and almost fight with the instruments. Kimme
sings with them.
This isn’t an over produced album with a lot of clever sound effects
or too many instruments. Since the album didn’t come with liner notes,
I can only guess that she performed this album with a Jazz Trio or
Quartet, which is how Jazz and R&B should be most of the time.
(Except Big-Band Swing…)
Many of these songs have a very 1940’s nightclub sound to them, most of
all is “Wishes…” I could almost hear her singing to the troops on a
bandstand some night before being sent to Europe. Some of the songs
like the last track “Full Time Lover” have a very tropical sound. Other
songs stay with in the same jazz/R&B theme with a few exceptions
that are modern updates and effused with some “rapping” of the lyrics
on one or two songs.
The album does have a few flaws, where the sound does sound a bit
muffled on a few songs and sounds under-produced. But Kimmy overcomes
these small issues, and this artist really deserves a chance because of
the power and passion that’s balanced with sensuality and beauty. I
don’t want to read too much into what I’m hearing, but I get the sense
that Miss Kearse is working to bring back the style of music that was
so popular during the Golden Era of style. That reason alone I think
she deserves a listen and forgive some of the disk’s inadequacies.
Editors note: Since after writing this review and reading what others
have said about this album, and there have been no other complaints
about the audio sound, I have to believe the poor quality of this
particular copy was just a fluke… this work is recommended by me, and I
look forward to her future endeavors…
More information on Kimmy Kearse and her music can be found on his website.
You can purchase This CD Here.
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