Sunkissed,
the title of Ashleigh Smith’s August 19, 2016 debut on Concord Records,
describes her singing perfectly. The 27-year-old Dallas-based winner of the
2014 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocals Competition possesses an
iridescent alto that radiates a spectrum of poised emotions. While clearly
she’s capable of tackling material underscored by darker themes such as
heartache and sobering social commentary, optimistic rays of light always shine
through her voice.
The disc
reveals Smith to be a gifted songwriter too. She co-wrote five of the disc’s 10
compositions. Like the musicians accompanying her, most of Smith’s writing
partners – electric bassist Nigel Rivers and guitarist Joel Cross – were fellow
classmates of hers from the University of North Texas, where she studied jazz.
Indeed, enlisting a cadre of musicians whom she’s already forged a sparkling
rapport imbues Sunkissed with a greater sense of warmth and personal
conviction. “I wanted people who have already been an integral part of my
musical development,” Smith explains. “We were all in music class and jazz forums
together; we also performed together. They played a big part into the making of
who I am as a musician. That’s something you figure out not necessarily in the
classroom but when you’re performing on stage.”
Sunkissed
begins with “Best Friends,” a bittersweet original co-written with Cross. Even
though the song glides to a percolating sanguine bossa-nova groove, powered by
Cross’ acoustic guitar riffs, Smith’s lyrics touch upon on the pains of a
waning romantic relationship. The song’s melody and “heart on your sleeves”
lyrics also betray one of her brightest lodestars – Stevie Wonder.
With Cross,
Smith also co-penned the music for “Into the Blue,” another melancholy
Brazilian-tinted gem, marked by sauntering rhythms and bracing melodicism. The
lyrics, however, were co-written by her older sister, Lauren, after the two
were swapping stories about things that were happening in each other’s amorous
relationships.
On the
glowing soul-jazz original, “The World Is Calling,” Smith partnered with Rivers
as a songwriter. Distinguished by sliding keyboard chords, a subtle Latin
mid-tempo groove, and a jaunty melody underscored by pleads of universal love,
Smith refers to this song as her “love call.” “I’m very empathic with humanity
and things that are going on in the world,” she explains. “It’s important to
know what’s going on around you – not just what’s happening within yourself. I
think we’re becoming so self-consumed. We don’t love people enough. Loving each
other more wouldn’t solve all the world’s problems, but it would be a great
start.”
Similar
glimmers of hope sparkle on “Sunkissed,” the title track co-written with Rivers
and singer Nadia Washington. Riding atop a breezy, hip-swerving samba rhythm,
Smith sings empowering lyrics to young girls of color, who oftentimes struggle
seeing themselves as beautiful. “There had to be a song on this album for girls
who look like me,” Smith argues, “A lot of times when I’ve mentored
African-American girls, they always commented that there weren’t any role
models that looked like them. They saw mostly people who looked like their
Caucasian friends. This is not to say that one is better than the other. We are
all beautiful. But I think all of that beauty should be represented equally.”
Smith
acknowledges that the melody on the succinct “Brokenhearted Girl” resembles
“Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Centered on “break-up songs” and written with Kwinton
Gray during a rehearsal for a Dallas show, the song purposefully eschews the
conventional AABA song format.
Sunkissed
contains one song – the searching “Beautiful and True” – that’s written by
Rosanna Eckert, one of Smith’s teachers at the University of North Texas. With
its soaring melody and lush arrangement, the tune superbly accentuates Smith’s
effervescent tone and gift for articulating other people’s verses. “I wanted
Rosanna to write a song because she knows my voice very well,” Smith says. “I
love her ease at lyrical expression. I love how fluid her lyrical thoughts are
and how well they match her musical thoughts.”
As for the
covers, Smith chose wisely. Raised in LaGrange, Georgia in a musically rich
household and nestled deep in the modern R&B sounds of Dallas, Smith wanted
material that reflected her upbringing. Such is the case with her winning
makeover of Hall & Oates’ classic tune, “Sara Smile,” which is given a
discreet hip-hop bounce via punchy rhythms.
Even more
indicative of Smith’s generation is her sumptuous rendering of R&B singer
Chrisette Michele’s 2007 ballad “Love Is You.” Interestingly enough, Smith has
been singing backup for Michele for five years. “We’re great friends,” Smith
adds. “I’ve learned a lot about the music business from her. Lyrically, it’s
such a beautiful song.” On Sunkissed, Smith beefs up the arrangement by
incorporating silhouetting strings and fanciful Latin rhythms inside the
bridge. “My version is completely different from the original. But Chrisette
loves it – it’s an ode to her.”
Smith digs
deeper into the pop canon and covers the Beatles’ late-’60s classic
“Blackbird.” It was the song’s dark themes that first seduced Smith. “The
opening is so haunting; it’s so pivotal and timeless – it brings you in
immediately,” she says. Smith brightens the mood with a gently swaggering
rhythm while keeping the haunting tenor of the lyrics well intact.
Sunkissed
concludes with a mesmerizing version of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s
immortal “Pure Imagination” from the 1971 movie, Willy Wonka & The
Chocolate Factory. Showcasing her love for sophisticated harmonies, Smith’s
rendition features her harmonizing with herself via overdubs. It makes for an
ideal ending to the shining debut of a creative singer with her own distinct
style poised to take on the world.
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