Not a single lyric on Songs Were Made To Sing was written by
Mary Stallings, but each one represents a chapter in her life and a piece of
her soul. On her latest album, due out May 17 from Smoke Sessions Records, the
incomparable vocalist has crafted an exquisite collection of classic songs to
reflect on a life well and passionately lived. With Songs Were Made To Sing,
Stallings puts her distinctive stamp on a diverse set of 13 songs, using her
gift for interpreting a lyric to transform familiar melodies into profoundly
personal and captivating stories.
From the youthful passions and heartbreaks of “Stolen
Moments” and “Lover Man,” to the wistful ruminations of “While You’re Young”
and “Give Me the Simple Life,” Songs Were Made To Sing travels a journey of decades,
with songs that collect wisdom and maturity along the way. Impulse ripens to
romance, hope deepens to reflection, and Stallings’ voice captures every
emotional step along that path with a perfectly chosen lyric from some of the
greatest songwriters of all time.
“It’s amazing how you can feel things in your heart and in
your mind but not find the words to say them,” Stallings says. “But I can
always find a song that expresses everything that I need to say. So I pick
tunes that seem to apply to me personally, and a story grows out of that.”
The soulful Bay Area chanteuse worked closely with master
pianist David Hazeltine (Joe Henderson, James Moody), who tailored the album’s
vibrant arrangements to Stalling’s singular voice and to the stellar band that
was assembled for the date, which brings together such greats as saxophonist
Vincent Herring (Cedar Walton, Nat Adderley), bassist David “Happy” Williams
(Roberta Flack, Elvin Jones), and drummer Joe Farnsworth (McCoy Tyner, Pharoah
Sanders). Percussionist Daniel Sadownick (Michael Brecker, Steely Dan) is added
to the mix for Latin-tinged takes on “Lover Man” and “Lady Bird.”
Adding extra meaning to the occasion is the appearance of
veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson (Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi, The Cookers),
whose friendship with Stallings stretches all the way back to their days as
students at San Francisco’s Lowell High School, when the singer was already a
well-known presence on the city’s thriving jazz scene.
“I always admired the way Mary sang,” Henderson recalls.
“And, I was ecstatic to reunite with her and play together again. She makes the
lyrics come alive; she’s not just saying arbitrary words, she means it.”
The middle child of 11 siblings, Stallings grew up around
music, getting her first professional experience with her mother and two older
sisters in a family gospel group. Her uncle, tenor saxophonist and bandleader
Orlando Stallings, introduced her to jazz – still considered by some in the
church at that time as “the devil’s music.”
“My music was gospel but I loved to listen to Uncle Orlando
play bebop, too,” Stallings says. “They called it ‘sinful music,’ and I wanted
some of that sin.”
Decades before it became one of the cornerstones of
psychedelic rock, San Francisco’s Fillmore District was lined with jazz and
blues clubs, becoming known as the “Harlem of the West.” This was the scene
that Stallings dove into as a teenager in the early 1950s, performing with such
giants as Ben Webster, Cal Tjader, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Red Mitchell, Teddy
Edwards, and the Montgomery Brothers – Wes, Buddy, and Monk.
1961’s Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings earned the
vocalist her strongest accolades and led to a busy decade in which she toured
with Tjader, Billy Eckstine, and Dizzy Gillespie. She spent three years
fronting the Count Basie Orchestra, after which she spent the majority of the
1970s focused on raising her family – including her daughter, the acclaimed
R&B singer Adriana Evans. Stallings made a full-fledged comeback in the
early ’80s, releasing a string of albums with such luminaries as Gene Harris,
Monty Alexander, Gerald Wiggins, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Geri Allen.
Stalling’s long-running musical relationship with Buddy
Montgomery, which lasted until his death in 2009, provided a strong bond with
Hazeltine. During his own formative years in Milwaukee, Hazeltine was taken
under Buddy’s wing while the great vibraphonist and pianist lived in the
Midwestern city for more than a decade before returning to the West Coast.
“Buddy was one of my main mentors, and Mary loved Buddy and worked with him a
lot,” the pianist says. “That gave us a nice connection.”
Stallings had long admired Hazeltine’s skills, both through
Buddy and the recommendation of vocalist and friend Marlena Shaw, for whom
Hazeltine long served as accompanist and arranger. “David is a very fine
musician,” raves Stallings, “and boy, did he make magic with the treatments
that he gave to this music. He has a great insight and I was thrilled to work with
him.”
Hazeltine reciprocates the admiration. “I just can’t say
enough great things about Mary. She’s imaginative and soulful, with perfect
intonation and a creative way of approaching the tunes. I am in awe of her
singing ability.”
Surely those expressive qualities are the fruit of nearly
eight decades of musical, not to mention life, experience. Stallings brings the
entirety of that life to bear on her lyrics, and proudly faces the landmark
birthday she’ll commemorate this August.
“I’m going to be 80 years old and I’m very proud of it,” she
announces. “I’m still here. I’m still breathing. I’m still living. And I’ll
live until I die, spending every day doing something positive. I’m the product
of everything that I’ve been through in my life, and that comes through in my
music. My joy is getting on that stage and having people listen to my stories.”
"Songs Were Made to Sing" was produced by Paul
Stache and Damon Smith and
recorded live in New York at Sear Sound's Studio C on a
Sear-Avalon custom console
at 96KHz/24bit and mixed to ½" analog tape using a
Studer mastering deck.
Available in audiophile HD format.
Mary Stallings · Songs Were Made To Sing
Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: May 17, 2019
