The JC Group Giveaway/Review - Nancy Harrow - Winter Dreams

[Lois Gilbert]

Nancy Harrow and Artists House would like to give you a copy of Nancy's CD WINTER DREAMS The Life and Passions of F. Scott Fitzgerald

We have 10 copies for you. We ask that you only enter if you like vocalists (this is a totally different kind of cd), and you agree to review it here and post your review by June 1st (date may change depending on when you get it) Just email me at lois@jazzcorner.com with your name, address, screen name, etc. Put in subject Nancy Harrow CD

Here's some more info:



Featuring Grady Tate & Nancy Harrow

Nancy Harrow - Voice
Grady Tate - Voice
Roland Hanna - Piano
Jack Wilkins - Guitar
Bill Easley - Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet
Frank Wess - Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Michael Mossman - Trumpet
John Mosca - Trombone
Rufus Reid - Bass
Akira Tana - Drums, Perc.

For additional info and RealAudio, etc visit Nancy's site.

[Jazzooo]

I'm in Lois. Will email you my address. Thanks!

Doug

[Ron Thorne]

Sounds interesting, Lois. I'd like to be included, if possible.

I've e-mailed you the pertinent, required info.

Thanks.

[Lois Gilbert]

Hi folks

The following should expect a little present in their mailboxes shortly:

1. Helge, Norway
2. Mwanji, Belgium
3. Jazzoo, Escondido, CA
4. Troy D, Durham, NC
5. Gary Delligatti. Fairmont, WV
6. Ron Thorne, Anchorage, Alaska
7. Valerie Bishop, Westwood, MA
8. Randy Hersom, Morganton, NC
9. Hornplayer, Jersey City, NJ
10. B Frank, San Francisco, CA
11. Squaredancecalling Steve, Healdsburg, CA

Since all will be sent by tomorrow, do you think you could have your reviews by June 1. Is that a reasonable time?

Thank you all for your support.... sorry we didn't have more, but Artists House was kind enough to make it 11 rather than 10...

Best Lois

[Gary Delligatti]

I've recieved mine, I believe, at least for me, that June 1 would work just fine.

Lookin' forward to listening to it

[BFrank]

Mine arrived today, too.

Looks like an interesting concept and the players are no lightweights, either.

[Valerie]

Received my copy and have started my listening sessions. It's sure different but very interesting!

[mke]

I haven't gotten mine yet...

[Lois Gilbert]

Anybody else get their cds?

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Got it.

[mke]

I got mine. I have no knowledge of Fitzgerald, but I'll do my best.

[Lois Gilbert]

MKE

There is a complete story of the evolution of this cd that is in the booklet that will tell you about Fitzgerald as well... oh an then there's this thing called the internet, if you want to know more on Fitgerald!

[Lois Gilbert]

Hornplayer, Ron Thorne, Helge - get your cds yet?

[Sand]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
Hornplayer, Ron Thorne, Helge - get your cds yet?

Received mine two days ago - and I even thought it was a DVD for a minute or so. More about that and Harrow's CD later. I knew about all the musicians here - except Nancy Harrow.

[Lois Gilbert]

Sand

Check out Nancy's website, esp her bio and her recordings. I was a fan before she was part of JC so I'm really anticipating what you all think

Best Lois

[BFrank]

Well, I'm not ready to write any kind of review at this point, but I'll jot some first impressions.

It's more of a cabaret-style disk than I was expecting. My first time through was a bit disappointing having expected a straight ahead jazz album (for no particular reason), but after getting over the style, I'm starting to listen more closely to the tunes. I suspect that a great part of this is the songwriting, with an apparent eye towards taking it to the stage. I was surprised that Grady Tate was on at least 1/2 of the tunes.

Having said that, I think it's an interesting project and will give it more time to sink in.

BTW, I know that I have heard "Dear Max" somewhere before. Anybody know where? A movie perhaps?

[mke]

The DVD looked really interesting. I spent 5 minutes trying to find it. Then I resigned myself to "They probably didn't send out the DVD with the freebies". THEN I saw that this was a CD only release...

[randyhersom]

I got mine and have listened a couple of times. The rhythm section is what caught my eye initially. This does tend toward musical theater, not ordinarily my favorite genre, but the band is just so darned tasty. The trumpeter, Michael Mossman caught my ear with some nice muted work. Grady Tate initially reminded me of Mel Torme, but he sings a bit more forcefully and is growing on me. Nancy has an attractive voice, laid back with a hint of sexiness. The compositions are unfailingly pleasant and tasteful.
Relaxed, confident and subtle.

[Troy D]

I got my copy a while back--just haven't had a chance to give it a listen yet. It's on the listening agenda for tomorrow, though. Once I've given it a few listens I'll be writing up my thoughts.

[Lois Gilbert]

BTW, I know that I have heard "Dear Max" somewhere before. Anybody know where? A movie perhaps? [/B]

B - I can assure you, all of Nancy's compositions are originals - perhaps you heard it on Nancy site. Samples were up before Artists House picked it up

Best Lois

[BFrank]

Lois, I didn't mean that she hadn't written the tune, I was just wondering where else I might have heard it. It wasn't on the Internet, though.

[Valerie]

BFrank: I also thought "Dear Max" sounded very familiar but I think it just sounds like another tune which I've yet to recall.

[Allen H]

Well, I didn’t get a freebie from Jazz Corner, but can I play anyway? (Actually, Nancy did send me a freebie anyway.)

“Dear Max” does remind me somewhat of the Dave Frishberg tune “Dear Bix,” and that might be why it sounds familiar. The title is similar, with a one-syllable name ending in “x”, as well as the mode of address (the conceit of a letter to a friend) and the light and playful tone. And there’s a certain amount of similarity in melody. Anyone interested in hearing “Dear Bix” should look up Meredith d’Ambrosio’s superb 1981 album “Another Time,” a favorite of mine.

The “Winter Dreams” title of Nancy Harrow’s Fitzgerald album comes from the title of an early 1920s Fitzgerald short story. (Apparently there is also a PBS “American Masters” entry by this title on the same subject matter, starring Amy Irving and Laura Linney.) I listened to this CD recently for the first time in about a year and a half, and it has made an even more positive impression on me the second time around - which I’ve generally found to be true of her other literary-based song cycles as well.

Nancy’s voice sounds perhaps clearer and generally better than on other recent albums, not that it was a problem before. Grady Tate is also in good voice, somehow managing to sound both vernal on the young man’s song “This Side of Paradise” and then autumnal on “Old Pro.” Most of what I’ve heard of Grady Tate’s vocals has been on the albums he has done with Nancy Harrow, and I continue to wonder why some people badmouth his vocals. He always sounds great, and in addition, he does so in a variety of different roles requiring somewhat different sounds.

The music of “Winter Dreams” is anchored by the late, lamented Sir Roland Hanna, who has also arranged, led, and played on Nancy’s two most recent song cycle albums as well as a couple of her earlier albums. Hanna and Tate have been absolutely central to these song cycles. Unfortunately, this is the last of her albums to which Hanna can bring his many unique talents, and it will be an immeasureable loss.

The songwriting on “Winter Dreams,” compared to Nancy’s previous jazz song cycles based on literature, seems to me more consistently strong. Almost all of these are good songs. The only one that doesn’t really work for me individually is “Oh God, I’m Sophisticated.” But in a production such as this, the songs have to be judged like show tunes – i.e., not just individually but also in the context of the entire cycle and how they advance the subject matter - and I would at least credit this song with helping tell the story effectively.

An opposite situation, where I liked the song fine but didn’t initially really get the context, was presented by “Old Pro.” Obviously sung by or to someone elderly, but I didn’t hear much in the lyrics to connect it to any specific events in Fitzgerald’s life apart from him being, well, old, and a pro. But the notes that Nancy has posted on her Jazz Corner site (which are not included in the CD liner notes and are worth looking up) indicate that it is a “self-mocking song sung by Fitzgerald to himself, toasting himself in one of his lowest moments.” I’ll buy that.

The liner notes mention some possibility of developing this song cycle into a theatrical presentation, as with Nancy’s last album, “Maya the Bee”. I think the CD lasts around 40 or 45 minutes; I don’t know whether or not that is short measure for theater, not being much of a theater person myself. If it is, Nancy has written some fine older songs that easily could be adapted to the subject matter of the Fitzgerald cycle – I especially think of “Skeleton Trees” and “Sea Change” on her “Secrets” album.

By the way, I bought the 6th edition of the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD and was glad to find that Nancy has been restored to this edition - I could be wrong, but my recollection is she hasn’t been included in recent editions. (They still don’t have room for Irene Kral, though – grrr.) About five of her albums are reviewed this time and all receive three stars out of four. That is quite good for the Penguin Guide, which I don’t think ever has been accused of grade inflation. I think I myself would give “Winter Dreams” either three and a half or four out of four.

[Allen H]

I'm copying in Nancy's comments on this album from elsewhere on this website for your convenience, below:



The Winter Dreams project

These songs are loosely based on the life of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) sometimes through one of his characters or a favorite theme in his work. But since almost everything Fitzgerald wrote was a kind of self-portrait, I have blended his characters' stories with his own. Fitzgerald began his writing career with a great success when he was 23, and was on top of the world for a few years. But his life was not a happy one. His wife became mentally ill and he had to support her and their child from his writing. He drank to excess, and he failed as a Hollywood screenwriter. In later years his work went out of print and he was totally unknown by most Americans until after his death when there was an enormous resurgence of interest in his work.

1. "This Side of Paradise:" Song expressing Fitzgerald's feelings after he hit the jackpot with his first novel (This Side of Paradise) when he was 23. He won Zelda, married her, and became the toast of two continents for a while, doing everything to excess.

2. "You'll Never Get to East Egg:" This song comes from the setting of The Great Gatsby - East Egg and West Egg in the novel were the two sides of Long Island Sound, one aristocratic and the other middle class. Fitzgerald's hero, like himself, had aspirations to belong to the world of the rich and powerful although he came from a more plebian background.

3. "Winter Dreams:" The title song is suggested by a short story he wrote called The Ice Palace, in which a young man from the Midwest brings his southern girlfriend home for the holidays and she freezes to death in a stadium called the Ice Palace. Fitzgerald himself came from St. Paul, Minnesota, and Zelda, his wife, was a southern belle who became schizophrenic early in their marriage and had to be institutionalized.

4. "The Extra Mile:" Song about the burden Fitzgerald carried after Zelda got sick and he had to keep writing short stories that were marketable to meet the expenses of her hospital and his daughter's upbringing.

5. "Oh God, I'm Sophisticated:" Song sung by Daisy, the heroine of The Great Gatsby, one of Fitzgerald's typical heroines - a flapper from the 20's, too rich, frivolous, unhappy, unattainable.

6. "Dear Max:" A composite of many letters Fitzgerald wrote to his editor, Maxwell Perkins, usually asking for an advance because of his many debts. A few years before his death, he did suffer a heart attack and wrote from Hollywood of all his troubles. The troubles were real, but he always managed a light, ironic tone.

7. "My Swan:" In a letter Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda many years after she was hospitalized, he called her My Swan, which suggested this song.

8. "Beloved Infidel: Fitzgerald's last love was Sheilah Graham, a writer in Hollywood. He was drinking heavily and secretly during this affair and even became abusive, but he always won her back with promises of giving up his drinking. Beloved Infidel was something he called her. He died at her home.

9. "Until it Comes Up Love:" A tribute to Fitzgerald's fighting spirit - going on meeting his responsibilities and still writing despite illness, addiction, and the lack of recognition. "We [go] on, boats against the current" comes from the last lines of The Great Gatsby.

10. "My Lost City:" Sung by Fitzgerald in his deepest depression looking back on the triumphs of his youth when New York was at his feet and life had held so much promise.

11. "The Old Pro:" A self-mocking song sung by Fitzgerald to himself, toasting himself in one of his lowest moments.

12. "Winter Dreams:" Same song, but sung here as an overview of the pattern of Fitzgerald's life.

[Lois Gilbert]

Allen

Thank you for taking the time to really delve into Nancy's record. The same info about the tunes (and for those who didn't get a copy but might be interested in hearing sound bites before purchase) should visit Nancy Harrow's website

Also there is a page dedicated to The Adventures of Maya The Bee on her site which has been running almost every Saturday for nearly 3 years. My son has seen it twice and loved it both times!

[BFrank]

Well, this album is DEFINITELY getting better "with age". The tunes are entertaining and well arranged. I like the juxtaposition of the two voices, too.

Certainly a nice album for late-night listening or lounging around on a Sunday afternoon.

I thought Scott Yanow's comments on AMG were interesting: "It helps to be pretty familiar with Fitzgerald's writing and chances are that these performances would be more effective if seen in a play."

[Allen H]

The CD does a pretty good job of summing up Fitzgerald's life, but it comes in second to The Onion, whose 1925 (sic) issue contains the following book notice: "Complexity Marks New Fitzgerald Novel, 'Zelda, Be A Dear and Fix Me Another Gin Fizz, You Incorrigible Harlot I Love You.'"

[Troy D]

Okay, here are my thoughts on the disc.

It’s an intelligently conceived record, with an interesting premise. I’m not an expert on Fitzgerald or anything, but it seems Harrow’s done a fine job of capturing the twists and turns of his life with these songs. (The liner notes are quite helpful in explaining things—thanks also to Allen H. for the helpful notes above in this regard.) I think, though, that the nature of the material may be limited in appeal for those (such as myself) who don’t find Fitzgerald’s personal life trajectory all that compelling. Of course his talent as a great writer is unquestioned, but whether one wants what amounts to a play-by-play retelling of the more tumultuous and unhappy episodes of F. Scott’s life (and from what I can ascertain here, most of his life was indeed rather unhappy) is perhaps up to the individual listener to decide.

In keeping with the nature of the subject matter, most of the songs have a melancholy, wistful quality to them. Even the more up-tempo songs usually have a somewhat tragic or ironic air about them. The overall feel to the record is thus fairly somber. This in itself is perfectly fine—although it’s certainly not a record I’d want to listen to a great deal unless I were in the right mood for it.

As for the vocalists, I must confess that Harrow doesn’t really grab me. She does a nice job of conveying the subtleties of the songs, and she’s fairly expressive, but her technique leaves a little to be desired IMO. She seems to falter a bit on some of the slower tracks (particularly noticeable on ‘My Swan’), and I find her voice on the whole to be somewhat thin and unsubstantial. Tate, on the other hand, is much more compelling throughout the record—I found myself really getting into the tracks that featured him. As the “F. Scott” character in the songs, he’s capable of getting across the jubilant and self-confident side of his personality (as in ‘This Side of Paradise’), as well as the more tragic aspects of his life (as in ‘My Lost City’ and the title track).

The other musicians offer capable, tasteful performances. Special mention must be made of Michael Mossman’s trumpet/flugelhorn playing, particularly on ‘Winter Dreams.’ Mossman really carries the tracks he’s featured on. Roland Hanna’s understated elegance is also in evidence on many of the tracks. There’s nothing flashy or eye-popping here, but that’s in keeping with the nature of the material.

On the whole, it’s a fine record—but I don’t think I’ll be returning to it much. It’s a well-executed disc, but not necessarily one that offers enough (to this listener, anyway) to warrant more than a few spins.

[Valerie]

Nancy Harrow
“Winter Dreams”

To start with, this was a completely unique musical experience for me and not a CD I would have picked up on my own. I have a very limited knowledge of F. Scott Fitzgerald and had never heard Ms. Harrow before. Having said all that, this was definitely an enjoyable experience and a bit of an education as well.

Everyone who participated in this project has my utmost respect, especially, of course, Ms. Harrow. The concept of this CD is quite interesting and extremely well executed. To me, Ms. Harrow’s original tunes are intelligent, clever, witty, elegant and whimsical, as they follow the life of F. Scott and some of his fictional Gatsby characters. It’s amazing that even the depressing qualities of Fitzgerald’s life are interpreted in an uplifting manner in Ms. Harrow’s lyrics and music. The obvious here is that, unfortunately, this CD will attract a limited audience.

The musicians involved (Jack Wilkins, Rufus Reid, Akira Tana, Frank Wess, Bill Easley, Michael Mossman and John Mosca) have all made impressive, top-notch appearances. Nancy doesn’t have the greatest voice (reminds me a bit of Blossom Dearie) but it is more than adequate for this first-class project. Grady is absolutely perfect and in better voice than ever (sounding sometimes like Eckstine or Prysock, to my ears). And the contrast between their voices during their duo number works very well. Enormous praise goes to the late Roland Hanna who is responsible for the arrangements, as well as his elegant piano contributions.

All in all, this was a fun “literary” and musical experience. Given its unique and special qualities, I would not hesitate to recommend it highly. Kudos to Nancy Harrow!

And, thank you, dear Lois, for sending it my way!

[mke]

I find the CD quite enjoyable.

The opening calypso conveys nicely Fitzgerald's happiness, optimism and arrogance, and is well-sung by Grady Tate.

Nancy Harrow's voice has a certain character to it, regardless of her technical capabilities.

All the lyrics spell everything out, so you don't really need to be a Fitzgerald expert (which I am not) to understand them, IMO. Which might be why it would work well as theater?

Pretty wide variety of musical styles, from the afore-mentioned calypso, to the melancholy "mallets-on-cymbals" sound of "Winter Dreams", to the 20-30s pop-style arrangements on "Oh God, I'm Sophisticated", to the funky "The Old Pro".

I can't recall any full-blown instrumental solos, but there are some very nice obbligato and counter-point contributions here and there, on top of the sober, well-executed accompaniment.

It seems that this group review CD will get better ratings than Chico Hamilton's "Thoughts of..." My only disappointment with "Winter Dreams" is the lack of DVD, which comes with every other Artists' House release.