The realization of a long-cherished dream for both vocalist
Peter Eldridge and pianist Kenny Werner, their breathtaking new album Somewhere
marries timeless romanticism with contemporary attitudes and harmonic
sophistication. Swathing Eldridge's rich baritone and Werner's keen piano
mastery in lush orchestral strings, the album harkens back to swooning
favorites by Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole while offering a
decidedly modern take on starry-eyed sentiment.
Somewhere (due out July 5, 2019 on Rosebud Records) takes
its yearning title from the West Side Story classic penned by Leonard Bernstein
and Stephen Sondheim; the song is here paired with the Johnny Mandel/Paul
Francis Webster standard A Time For Love. Together, they suggest a place of
togetherness and romance far removed from the tempestuous rancor of today,
offering a dreamy escape from political discord and social media sniping.
Werner's sumptuous string arrangements provide the perfect
complement for Eldridge's candlelit crooning, which reveals an exquisite new
side to the singer's already diverse artistry. Audiences are already familiar
with his vibrant harmonizing as a founding member of the revered New York
Voices and the adventurous vocal quintet MOSS. The urbane wit of his own songs
can be heard on several albums that smartly bridge the singer-songwriter and
jazz realms; later in 2019 he'll release My Museum, a collection of previously
unrecorded tunes spanning more than 20 years. When not in the studio or on the
road with these wide-ranging projects, he can be found in the classroom as a
member of the voice faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Berklee furnished the connections that proved key to finally
bringing Somewhere to fruition. Eldridge and Werner are colleagues at the
renowned institution along with cellist Eugene Friesen, who conducts the
gorgeous 20-piece string orchestra on Somewhere, its members largely culled
from the gifted ranks of the Berklee World Strings. Drummer Yoron Israel, who
joins in-demand bassist Matt Aronoff in the ensemble's rhythm section, is a
professor of percussion at the college, while longtime faculty member George
Garzone brings his inimitable tenor sax voice to Werner's angular ode to John
Coltrane, "Ballad for Trane."
The idea for Somewhere was born nearly a decade ago, when
Werner invited Eldridge into the studio for a library music recording session.
Eldridge arrived expecting a simple voice and piano set-up; upon entering the
studio he was suddenly confronted by a 40-piece orchestra. "At that
point," Eldridge says, "you could either get overwhelmed and freak
out, or you could just have the most fun you could possibly have singing in
front of an orchestra. Why not do the second one?"
The collaboration worked so well that the two determined to
explore an orchestral project on more personal terms. "On that
session," Werner recalls, "Peter reminded me of Johnny Hartman, which
brought to mind the beautiful treatments that Johnny Hartman could do. But I
knew Peter was capable of a lot of different things, so I thought it would be
incredible to do a whole album with that kind of musical and emotional
relationship: no-nonsense, beautiful, lush, romantic songs with strings."
Eldridge agreed immediately, realizing what a bucket list
opportunity the project would be. He instantly called to mind favorite
singer-arranger partnerships, including Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle, or Nat
"King" Cole and George Shearing - even, though it doesn't include
strings, Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane. "It's one of those Top Five
thrills of life, to get to stand in front of an orchestra and sing," he
says. "Kenny's string writing is so strong and nuanced. We were going for
an old school approach but slightly to the left. Instead of just doing a bunch
of standards and having it sound like 1964, we wanted to mix it up with
different feelings to the music, but under the umbrella of this big, rich,
symphonic, warm collection of tunes."
For Werner, the project offered a chance to indulge in his
long-held love of opulent string writing, updated with his advanced approach to
harmony. "I was influenced as a kid by Mantovani and Muzak strings coming
out of the Magnavox stereo in the middle of the living room," the pianist
recalls. "That stuff was incredible; it was elevator music, but it was
incredibly elegant and lush. I wanted to explore that style, but with a lot
more interesting harmony than might have been exhibited at that time."
The album begins at its most traditional, with an achingly
beautiful version of the classic "You Don't Know Me." Eldridge wrings
every ounce of heartrending emotion from the song, punctuated with Werner's
bittersweet interjections. The pianist opens his own "I'm So Glad You're
Mine" with a lovely solo statement that perfectly sets the intimate mood.
Eldridge next reprises his stunning ode to life's great mysteries, "That
Which Can't Be Explained," which he originally recorded on 2000's Fool No
More.
With music by Werner and lyrics by Eldridge, "Autumn in
3" is the collaborators' contribution to the seasonal songbook, vividly
conjuring the flutter of falling leaves and the first chill in the air.
"Minds of Their Own," written by Eldridge with music by the great
Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, was previously recorded by the iconic Nancy
Wilson, while "Less Than Lovers" is the debut of an Eldridge original
with lyrics by one of his mentors, poet and educator Douglas Worth, who also
provided words for Werner's "Ballad for Trane."
Friesen's swirling string arrangement gives an off-kilter
dizziness to Eldridge's "Difficult," original recorded on Decorum
(2005), just right for the song's disorienting infatuation. Werner penned both
lyrics and music for the melancholy "Untitled Lament," which begins
with Eldridge backed by just the deft jazz trio before the strings finally
enter with their longing refrain. One of Eldridge's songwriting students,
Mitchell Proctor, co-wrote the tender "Day Is Done (Prayer for
Diego)."
Most importantly, Eldridge stresses, Somewhere looks not to
a place but to a state of mind, one that allows listeners to abandon themselves
to an imaginary world of luxurious romanticism. "It's a bit of a prayer
that there will be peace one day soon, that things won't remain as desperate as
they are now," Eldridge concludes. We're living in an incredibly strange
time, so this music is trying to offset that and help people feel a few moments
of hope. We hope it offers a balm for the spirit."
For years Peter Eldridge has remained at the forefront of
both the singer-songwriter and jazz realms as a vocalist, pianist, composer,
and arranger. He is also a founding member of internationally acclaimed vocal
group New York Voices, which continues to tour internationally and has
performed in some of the world's most preeminent venues and festivals,
including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and has
been involved in two Grammy-award winning projects with Paquito D'Rivera and
the Count Basie Orchestra. Some of Eldridge's notable collaborations include
Bobby McFerrin, Fred Hersch, Becca Stevens, Chanticleer, George Benson, Michael
Brecker, David Byrne, Jonatha Brooke, Kurt Elling, the New West Guitar Trio,
Jane Monheit, the Swingles, Anat Cohen, Betty Buckley, Janis Siegel, Paula Cole,
Jon Hendricks, and Mark Murphy. Peter's music is featured in Zach Galifianakis'
recorded stand-up performance Live at the Purple Onion, and his original songs
or collaborations have been covered by artists such as Nancy Wilson, Paquito
D'Rivera, and Jane Monheit. He
collaborated with playwright Cheryl Coons to co-write The Kiss, a musical about
the life and loves of Gustav Klimt. In addition, Peter was head of the
Manhattan School of Music's jazz voice department for 18 years and is now part
of the voice faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Kenny Werner has been a world-class pianist and composer for
over 40 years. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications
continue to impact audiences around the world. In 1996 he wrote his landmark
book, Effortless Mastery, Liberating The Master Musician Within. Werner has
since created videos, lectured world-wide and authored many articles on how
musicians, artists or even business people can allow their "master creator"
within to lift their performance to it's highest level, showing us how to be
spontaneous, fearless, joyful and disciplined in our work and in our life.
Kenny was awarded the 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his seminal work, No
Beginning No End, a musical journey exploring tragedy and loss, death and
transition, and the path from one lifetime to the next.
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