ALICIA SALDENHA - DANCE WITH THE SUN

Alicia Saldenha attracted a lot of attention last year with her vocal performances on the indigo jam unit covers project Rose. Featuring half a dozen covers of classic jazz, soul and funk tunes, the album was very well-received and went on to win the Tokyo Jazz Notes Readers' Poll as the best Japanese release of 2011.

Having shown the world how well she can carry a song, the Osaka-based Trinidadian vocalist now returns with her debut solo album featuring mostly original material giving an insight into Alicia Saldenha the songwriter in addition to her performance skills. Recorded in New York, Dance With The Sun features an impressive backing band with Barney McAll on keyboards, Gabe Cummins on guitars, Mark Kelley on bass and Chris Eddleton on drums in addition to appearances from Peck Allmond and Takuya Kuroda adding horns on a few tracks.

Dance With The Sun is an appropriate title for an album that mixes soul, jazz, funk and reggae influences, and with the band captured live in the studio, it all has a very fresh sound. If this is to be compared with anything, I'd say that the album is close to the kind of crossover sound that Julie Dexter is known for, effortlessly merging genres to create an original sound.

The album opens strongly with four tracks that represent distinctly different styles. Never Gonna Be The Same is a jazz-reggae fusion number that hits just the right balance with McAll's organ playing the perfect backdrop for the vocal line. Love Cast A Spell On Me is a modern soul number while Ooh Boy, the first single sung half in English and half in Japanese, is a sunny slice of radio-friendly lovers rock ideal for the summer months. Doctor, meanwhile, is a warm piece of retro-styled soul that is a fun listen.

The cover of the Bacharach standard Close To You and the ballad I Wanna Be With You are perhaps not essential, but this is more than compensated by the other tracks on offer. Without Reason starts out as a ballad but develops into a delicious reggae-tinged number. It's subtle and understated, but is nevertheless one of the stronger tracks on the set and is followed by the wonderfully funky neo-soul of Ne Complique Pas Les Choses.

Dance With The Sun is an impressive debut that offers a crossover of musical styles as well as an effortless merging of Caribbean, Japanese and new York influences and marks Alicia Saldenha as a name to watch.

~ Originally posted on Tokyo Jazz Notes HERE