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In
his 40 plus years as an actor, singer, and songwriter, JOHN ALLEE
has met no shortage of interesting characters with unlikely stories
to tell. His fourth studio album, PAST IMPERFECT,
offers us a wildly entertaining and heartfelt set of songs anchored
by a piano trio that fuses jazz, blues, and folk. It feels like an evening
sitting in a dive bar surrounded by a gaggle of lovable, quirky,
romantic, and fantastically unreliable narrators.
“Did
you ever meet somebody who was so interesting, or funny, or
extravagant, or pained that you felt they needed their own movie or
TV show?” asked Allee. “It’s kind of like that for me with
songwriting. I’m not a film producer, but what I can do is give them
their own song.”
Co-produced
by master sound engineer JEFF PETERS (The Beach Boys, Brian
Setzer, Charles Lloyd), PAST IMPERFECT digs deep into
the human condition. Showcasing his wide array of talents as a
vocalist, pianist, composer, lyricist, scat-singer, and dramatic
performer, PAST IMPERFECT follows up on the success of
Allee’s 2019 Shakespeare-inspired jazz album Bardfly.
PAST
IMPERFECT
comprises 17 tracks of ballads, jump blues, jazz-pop, and fast-paced
theatrical tongue-twisters set to sizzling small-combo arrangements.
The lyrics are wry, literary, cinematic, smart, sincere, and
humorous. They are populated with romantics, strivers, gamblers,
hucksters, suckers, cheaters, and greedy bastards. More than
anything, the songs have a story to tell – about wild adventures and
quiet observations, about relationships and love, and ultimately
about how we come to care about each other.
To
realize his vision, Allee has enlisted veteran bassist MIKE
SCHNOEBELEN (Buddy Rich, Manhattan Transfer), drummer JOHN
HARVEY (Amanda McBroom, John McDaniel), and to take over piano
duties on seven tracks, ace jazz pianist ADAM BRAVO (BTS, Kris
Bowers). Rounding out the group is JAVIER VERGARA (Poncho
Sanchez, Les McCann), who brought his tenor saxophone prowess to
Allee’s Bardfly, JEFF KAYE (Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder)
on trumpet and flugelhorn, and harmony vocalists JANE LUI aka
Surrija (Cambodian Rock Band) and CORTES ALEXANDER
(Liza Minnelli).
“PAST
IMPERFECT is an album full of tall tales and small tales of
the people you meet, the people you wish you’d met, the people you
maybe wish you were, and a couple you’re not so sure about,” says
Allee. “And of course, there’s a little bit of me in all of them. And
at a time when we could all use a little human connection, these
stories spoke to me – and I hope they’ll connect with dreamers and
schemers everywhere. Plus, it swings. You dig?”
PAST
IMPERFECT
starts out with the hip amuse-bouche bass and vocal duet “Let’s Hear
It,” where Allee shows off his improvisational acumen. From there an
echoing trumpet fanfare heralds the cool shuffle of “Like,” an
arresting love song of similes. Then it’s on to a slow-roll road trip
to Vegas on the bluesy and humorous “Until the Money’s Gone,” setting
us up for the kind of mischief and musical comedy jazz-infused
buoyancy that is on display in other tunes such as “Hard Sell,” and
one that could be an anthem for the COVID-era Great Resignation –
“Get a Real Job.” The straight-ahead feel continues with some more
deft and dizzying scatting on “A Typical Paris Affair.” And there’s
plenty of room for a dash of virtuosic soloing from the players, too.
PAST
IMPERFECT
also has a sweet, reflective side. Allee’s poignant lyrics, soothing
melodies, and intimate singing captivate when the tempo slows for
“Constant Storm of Jupiter,” “The Outsider,” “This Old Hat,” “Truth
Be Told,” and the ironic lament against love songs, “Where’s the
Door?”
Other
tracks find Allee in a contemporary jazz-pop vein, such as “Creatures
of the Tried,” “Those Letters,” and “Some Other Way,” which
progresses in surprising ways, culminating in a propulsive drum and
saxophone jam that really soars.
A
laid-back pop groove provides the pulse for “Feather in Your Panama,”
with lyrics that grapple with the complications of a deceptive
relationship. And in the haunting ballads “Let’s All Up and Go There”
and the title track, “Past Imperfect,” the richly layered lyrics are
enhanced by luscious harmony vocals. Throughout PAST IMPERFECT,
the piano is always center stage, grounding the listener in rich
harmonic textures and crisp lines.
About
John Allee
John
Allee is an actor, singer, and songwriter. His first CD, Unless it
Isn’t (2007) (as “Johnnye” Allee), landed him a feature in American
Songwriter for his “stunning suite of songs.” In 2016 he issued
the piano and vocal album of originals, Expect Delays. Allee’s
2019 Bardfly, was a trad-jazz mashup of songs from
Shakespeare’s plays that garnered rave reviews. John has written
music for several Allen Funt Candid Camera projects as well as
comedy shows and two full-length award-winning musicals of his own,
earning him the Sammy Cahn Award for excellence in lyric writing from
ASCAP. As a member of the comedy and jazz vocal group, Three Short
Guys, he was a regular at Hollywood’s venerated club The Cinegrill
and played in some of L.A.'s top venues and on national television.
His
TV and film roles range from the piano playing Pasha on the Golden
Globe-nominated Starz series Flesh and Bone (2015) to a
featured bit with comic legend Sid Caesar in the cult classic Grease
2 (1982), plus various other films, sitcoms, soaps, and national
commercials. Allee’s stage career has included performances from
Off-Broadway to Pre-Broadway to Europe and the Soviet Union,
including such top venues as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The
Wiltern Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, Pasadena Playhouse, and San
Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, appearing in plays, musicals
and operas from Shakespeare to Sondheim and just about everything in
between.
PAST
IMPERFECT will
be available on May 5, 2023 on Spotify, Apple Music, and select
platforms. Physical CDs available at Amazon and Johnallee.bandcamp.com/music.
Online:
Johnallee.com
Facebook.com/johnalleemusic
IG:
instagram.com/johnallee
Spotify
(John Allee): spoti.fi/3LXjbY4
Spotify
(Johnnye Allee): spoti.fi/3UNTs8m
Johnallee.bandcamp.com/music
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