DIANNE REEVES — Bridges (review)

DIANNE REEVES — Bridges album cover Album · 1999 · Pop/Art Song/Folk Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Matti P
American DIANNE REEVES (b. 1956) is one the most respected jazz vocalists of her generation. She has a large discography and this one seems not to be regarded among her finest albums. The All Music Guide review says "Reeves is such a talented and warm singer that many jazz fans wish that she would stick to performing jazz. Reeves, here, mostly performs music that is folk and pop oriented, sincere renditions that actually have very little improvisation." Well, I'm not bothered at all by the material's pop orientation, quite the contrary actually. Moreover, I do hear plenty of jazz in the elegant arrangements, so that IMHO the AllMusic's 2½ stars seem unfair.

First a cover of Peter Gabriel's 1986 song 'In Your Eyes'. Since there was an underlying jazzy flavour in the original composition already, this version feels very natural even if it wasn't highly innovative. 'I Remember' (Patsy Moore /Stephen Sondheim) wasn't familiar to me but I immediately like this calm version featuring a bright piano solo. There's beautiful acoustic guitar, too. Leonard Cohen's much covered 'Suzanne' works as faultlessly here. The drumming is very dynamic. The whole band is excellent in mixing electric rock elements and acoustic jazz nuances, comparable to the early jazz-oriented groups in STING's solo career (for example Bring On the Night live album).

'Goodbye' is another Patsy Moore song, a slow-tempo and delicate ballad with a folky sincerity. Dianne's vocals are truly beautiful here. 'Bridges' is, if I'm not mistaken, the album's only original composition, equally delicate and heartfelt. The piano is lovely, and definitely jazz, in despite of Allmusic's criticism. Joni Mitchell's classic 'River' suits perfectly for Dianne Reeves. The jazzy arrangement has nice little details such as marimba.

The rest of the album has five songs not familiar to me. 'Olokun' is a fascinating and nearly sacral-sounding vocalise, and 'Mista' adds rootsy blues to the pallette (being my least fave). The final track 'Make Someone Happy' is an old standard and the only song that the AllMusic review admits to be proper jazz. Take my word, this album is much better and not lacking jazz at all, a shame really if someone doesn't like it for its pop orientation.
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