REVIEWS
December
3, 2008
"Slim's Pick of the Week"
CADENCE/NORTH
COUNTRY
News
From Cadence
KATIE
BULL (vocals)
LOVE SPOOK
CORNHILL 8622
itemID/UPC: 825346798622
Joe
Fonda (bass)
Frank Kimbrough (piano)
Michael Jefry Stevens (piano)
Matt Wilson (perc)
Martin Wind (bass)
Of
the four available Katie Bull recordings, Love Spook is the one to have.
She breathes new life into the half dozen standards ("My Favorite
Things," "On a Clear Day," "I Only Have Eyes For
You," "I'll Be Seeing You," "Watch What Happens,"
"Surrey With The Fringe On Top") as well as offers a half
dozen fresh and memorable originals. Although more inside, she is adventurous
in a Jay Clayton sort of way. Her phrasing is interesting, setting her
apart from the kabazillion cabaret singers who find their way to jazz.
For the faint of heart that want to stretch a bit...
CD
Review – January 20, 2005
“Jazz vocalist Katie Bull just never lets you down with her insightful
CD projects. She & the groups she puts together seem supreme in
their ability to effect change in our feelings which range from positive
tension, relaxation, expectancy, & fulfillment. These all well up
& subside as we listen to the fine treatment & vocalise Katie
& group offers our sensibilities with such eternal covers as ''On
A Clear Day,'' & ""Watch What Happens, etc.'' This only
happens when the intimate interaction of folks & forces are not
in opposition to each other. This group in toto is capable of supplying
those energies that translate these forces into a pleasurable musical
journey for us, the listener.”
George W. Carroll/The Musicians' Ombudsman Jan. 05
CD
– REVIEW – February 11, 2005
“(Katie Bull) is a mainstream interpreter of the Great American
Songbook and a downtown New York City cutting-edge vocalist exploring
the more abstract styles of Jay Clayton or Sheila Jordan... (She)..is
a tuneful and lyrical singer with the ability to convey the lyrics and
melody of familiar songs quite well. She also enjoys the freedom jazz
provides in reworking melody and time in an improvisational sense...
Those seeking some adventure in their jazz vocal listening would do
well to pay heed...”
Michael P. Gladstone, AllAboutJazz.com Feb.05
JAZZ
WEEK PICKS and REVIEWS
Katie Bull
Love Spook (Corn Hill Indie)
MANY MUSICIANS CAN claim a New York City pedigree, but few can say they
grew up in the Village as Katie Bull can (at least until she moved upstate).
Here on Bull’s second album you hear a singer wholly engaged in
the process of sing cinct singing. She doesn’t recite the words
along to a melody; she wraps her voice around them, breaking the sounds
down, stretching syllables out, pushing words up
and down the scale. This is particularly apparent when she puts her
stamp on such evergreens as “On A Clear Day” and “My
Favorite Things,” but runs through her handful of originals as
well. The supporting players – she uses two trios, including such
players as pianist Frank Kimbrough, drummer Matt Wilson, bassist Joe
Fonda – are laid back as the singer works, letting her shine but
never leaving her hanging. This dynamic works particularly well on “Deer
Run,” though other cuts worth checking out include the simmering
“Leftover Blues” and a hard grooving version of “I
Only Have Eyes You.”
– Tad Hendrickson
Review
Courtesy JazzReview.com - March 8, 2005
http://www.jazzreview.com/cdreview.cfm?ID=9037
Review: Katie Bull has already released one CD, last year’s Conversations
With The Jokers.However, her rules-breaking attitude toward much of
the material on Love Spook creates the impression that this is a debut
album.
Katie Bull isn’t one to repeat herself. Instead, she considers
each song without preconceptions and with a sense of whimsy and wonder.
The same type of whimsy and wonder, childlike in innocence and refreshing
in creativity, can be found on all of Matt Wilson’s CD’s
as well. When you compound all of that fun-making by including Bull
and Wilson on the same CD, anything can happen. Interestingly, Wilson
is described on the cover of the CD as playing “percussion,”
which, even though less restrictive than the title of “drummer,”
doesn’t begin to cover the range of sounds that Wilson applies
to the occasion.
On “Connection Rag,” which describes sonic and emotional
disconnect through fractured meter and discordant piano chopping, we
find Bull singing “Another day of no connection to you…/Whoops
gotta run./Ships passing in the night…/I still love you, where
did you go?” And we hear Wilson’s quacking duck calls and
his ringing bicycle bells and his twirling New Year’s Eve noisemakers,
and he pretty much lets the initially predictable rhythm lapse into
unpredictability. A Bull original, “Connection Rag” is consistent
with the sentiment that Bull intends to convey, despite the misleading
irony of its title. But it doesn’t typify the songs of Love Spook
any more than does the standard “I Only Have Eyes.”
On track after track, Bull adopts an attitude toward each song after
considering its lyrics and their meaning, and she allows its spirit
guide her interpretation. In fact, as the CD progresses, it becomes
evident that Bull’s range is much wider than at first it seems.
She broadens her vocal intervals wildly and surprisingly on “Deer
Run” when it occurs to her to suggest swooping climbs and vertiginous
descents even though she sings in a fairly narrow range until then.
Cookie-cutter approaches are for less imaginative singers.
The idea for recording Love Spook originated in a New York City loft
gig with Wilson, pianist Frank Kimbrough and bassist Martin Wind. The
results were so successful, the empathy so gratifying, that Wilson suggested
they record some of Bull’s music from that night. Now they have…and
more. Bull has intermingled standards with songs stemming from her own
wacky perspective. Even the standards don’t remain sacrosanct,
though.
The closest Bull comes to a straightforward performance of standards
is her beautiful exposition of “On A Clear Day,” which she
sings without adornment or humor or improvisation, marveling instead
in the song’s intervals and visual lyrics. Still, Bull not only
sustains the notes, but she burnishes them with a purity of tone attaining
variations of volume and timbre even as the pitch remains fixed. But
then there’s “My Favorite Things,” the title of which
Bull takes literally as she briefly catalogs some of her favorite things
in a modally based introduction before she settles down into naming
the favorite things that Rodgers and Hammerstein imagined for the von
Trapp family. Beginning with full awareness of the jazz references that
the song conjures, especially McCoy Tyner’s work with John Coltrane,
Kimbrough asserts his own personality into his solo in the song’s
midst, brighter and harmonically altered for fulfillment of the singer’s
updated adaptation. Note how Bull leans forcefully into the notes, though,
the respectful accompaniment highlighting her attack on words like “DAooooorbells”
or her toying with the word “bad” as she at least eight
ways to present it during the four-bar repeat. Bull switches back-up
musicians for her version of another Rodgers and Hammerstein song, “Surrey
With The Fringe On Top,” and she daringly slows the surrey down
to a virtual crawl for fully rounded attention to each note, each syllable.
Eventually, it becomes clear (oddly, for a song humorously describing
sunny optimism and pride in industrial progress) that Bull considers
the song as blues material when she wraps it up with slippery intermediate
tones between the conventional pitches we expect to hear.
But Bull’s own compositions were the justification for producing
Love Spook. They provide the most revealing glimpses into her sense
of fun and her acuity of observation as she connects even the most mundane
items with universal themes. “Leftover Blues” is indeed
a modified blues that describes the leftovers in Bull’s refrigerator,
either real or imagined. Nonetheless, as enlivened by the light swing
of Bull’s trio, the song moves beyond the mundane into a statement
about emotional abandonment and about getting up and starting all over
again. Or on “Love Spook,” Bull climbs ascending minor ninth
intervals with fearless openness, restraining none of her involvement
in the music at hand, not until the song’s last notes wordlessly
express leavened emotion.
Bull’s singing often is compared to Sheila Jordan’s or Jay
Clayton’s—and she herself is flattered by the comparisons
and by those singers’ praise. However, Bull is like them primarily
due to the fact that she is unlike any other singer. With deep reserves
of talent, a wide range, incessant surprises when she sings, a vibrant
imagination, a natural feel for rhythm, lyrical perceptiveness, unconventional
formation of notes and an ever-present sense of fun, Katie Bull immerses
herself fully in the songs she sings. She represents a true discovery
for anyone who hasn’t heard her yet.
Reviewed by: Don Williamson
Copyright© 2005 JazzReview.com®. All Rights Reserved.
“Katie
Bull is one of the few of the new crop of jazz singers
who matter.”
Robert Ianapollo, AAJ-NY, from a feature on bass player
Joe Fonda.
CD Review: Improvijazzation Nation - March 8, 2005
Media
Alert: Katie Bull /”Love Spook”/Corn Hill Indie (Street
Date March 1, 2005)
Following
review will be in issue # 70, due up ‘round end-March to mid-April;
please check me for typos or address corrections:
Katie Bull - LOVE SPOOK: We love female vocalists, but the jazz &
bluesy approach on Ms. Bull's album was something we dug more than any
other jazz vocalist we've listened to this year (& many other years,
as well). That may be due (in great part) to the fantastic cast of characters
she has around her (Joe Fonda on bass, Frank Kimbrough's piano, Michael
Jefry Stevens' keyboards, Matt Wilson's percussion & Martin Wind's
bass), but after the third listen, you'll begin to realize the high
talent and, well, "spooky" qualities that Katie is able to
milk out of a song. My favorite cut is one called "Strange",
which opens with truly "different" percussion and a slow scat
that seems (to me, anyway) to really define her vocal uniqueness and
skill. The best word I can think of to describe her style here on this
song is "captivating". The title track is a fine piece, too,
slow & slinky, with a real "down-home" feel. It IS jazz,
though, make no mistake... there is none of the slick musical spam that's
so prevalent on many vocal albums... original through & through!
If yer' lookin' to dip into th' blues side o' th' thang, be sure &
check out "Leftover Blues", too. Don't expect "casual"
jazz on this CD, you'll need to reserve an hour to sit down & really
absorb"Love Spook". Total cool that gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
from us! To find out more about this album, visit her site, at www.katiebull.com
Rotcod
Zzaj
O's
Place Jazz Newsletter
KATIE
BULL - Love Spook 4/5
O's Notes: Katie is a true jazz singer, scatting and bending the notes
hither and yon while maintaining tonality. Her phrasing is fresh and
unique. Listen to her arrangement of “My Favorite Things”
and you'll appreciate her personalization of the tune. She has chosen
two trios for Love Spook and both are excellent. Drummer Matt Wilson
and Bull are common elements. The other musicians are Frank Kimbrough
(p), Martin Wind (b), Michael Jefry Stevens (p) and Joe Fonda (b). We
found this to be an enjoyable listening experience.
--
D. Oscar Groomes
O's Place Jazz Newsletter
P.O. Box 2437
Naperville, IL 60567-2437
http://www.OsPlaceJazz.com
_____________________________
July
6, 2005
Media Alert: Katie Bull /”Love Spook”/Corn Hill Indie (Street
Date March 1, 2005)
CD Review:
Review Courtesy http://www.jazznow.com/0705/0705NSF.html
Katie Bull
LOVE SPOOK
Corn Hill Indie, USA - CD
Standards are called standards, I believe, not just because everybody
does them, even Rod Stewart ( though to be deathly honest, if I got
off on Jimmy Durante's take of "September Song," how can I
put Rod the Mod down? I definitely belong to the wrong generation!),
but because they tell us something we want to hear. Mind you, whether
or not we want to hear it has nothing to do with whether or not it's
true. See the pleasantly dunderheaded lyrics to Alan Jay Lerner and
Burton Lane's "On a Clear Day You can See Forever." Don't
think I need to say any more.
Katie
Bull has a witty, throaty alto (an occasional reference to the divine
Ella F. insinuates, but usually in the best taste) and evident talent
in composition (see the title bit's "Your dress is so tight/I won't
dissect you"; Lorenz Hart, call your office). Humor is another
strong suit: see her fleet seconds-long improv during "I Only Have
Eyes For You" in which she connects deliciously "avenue"
and "you" as if they were the same word. Standards and originals
alternate here, and although I like her "I'll Be Seeing You"
I believe June Tabor (on her 1999 release A QUIET EYE) 'gets' the tune's
kernel a bit more accurately (that of knowing full well - again - that
chances are one won't be seeing that much-loved other, ever). Ms. Bull's
leaving the door open is, however, a bit more to my taste at this particular
time. I'd like to believe if I can! And she makes that work. The original
"Leftover Blues" wisely mentions in passing to somebody who
might be better off leaving, "Go ahead and eat my Chinese leftovers/
they're always better the next day"; clearly that person to whom
she sings has made her feel a bit like leftovers as well. "Watch
What Happens," the old Michel Legrand bossa, has exactly the right
slip'n'slide, a precisely cascading piano attack (courtesy of the ever-amazing
Michael Jefry Stevens; feel free to get any CD he's on with my personal
recommendation). Oh, yeah, "On a Clear Day" resides here as
well, but Bull and attendant trio Stevens, drummer Matt Wilson and bassist
Joe Fonda (somebody get those 3 a Rockefeller grant so they can play
together for a solid year!) give it the "After the Rain" treatment
(you know, the Coltrane tone poem) and it just doesn't do it for me.
Why? I suppose something is being underlined in this take that I don't
agree with. The ethereality of such walled-into-the-1960s bric-a-brac
as "...how it will astound you/ that the glow of your being outshines
every star..." Oh, boy, where do I start? Again. Well, that isn't
Ms. Bull and Company's fault. Another Katie composition, "Strange,"
to a broken minuet says the simplest thing in the most direct way: "I'm
feeling very new/ Ah! It's you"). Classic. "My Favorite Things"
is the best of the covers here, I think, in that it is a bouncy tempo,
nary a care in the world, and Ms. B. shows off how she, like Eve Beglarian,
can move her voice between a melody's notes in a very singular fashion.
There is probably some fancy word for that method like 'apoggiattura'
(don't write and tell me I misspelled that; I know); well, I get a kick
out of it. No reference intended. Parenthetically, Ms. Bull's other
pianist on this CD, Frank Kimbrough, is no piker either; a light touch,
a good sense for the detail and no grace notes unless the composer forgot
to put them in. Other bassist Martin Wind, mainstay of the NYU music
department, plucks as funky a blues as you can ask for,especially on
"Leftover."
Hard
to know what to leave out of this review but I'll close with notes on
2 more of Ms. Bull's originals; "Deer Run"has a marvelous
bridge ("I'm OK/ I can do this by myself" sung with a quietly
intense bravura) and a whooping finish, while "Ashokan Road"
ventures into Sting metaphysics (you know, "Fields of Gold,"
"Fragile," et al) but ends on a neutral note ("I have
no answers... one bird flies/ and they all have flown"); simple
and heartfelt.
So
if your recent purchases of Norah Jones or Nellie McKay CDs have left
you wondering what else's out there that you should still hear... start
at this one. Nice work, Ms. B and company.
by
Kenneth Egbert
_____________________________
July
2005
Montreal Mirror/CKUT Radio
Katie
Bull Love Spook (Corn Hill Indie) Ms. Bull is back,
this time backed by wonderful musicians like Frank Kimbrough, Martin
Wind, Joe Fonda and Matt Wilson. A nice mix of standards and originals
by a top notch vocalist. 9 (Len Dobbin - radio host, jazz historian
& critic - Montreal)
_____________________________
JAZZ
IMPROV MAGAZINE Volume 5 No. 4 Summer '05
by Withrop Bedford
"The
lyrics Katie Bull wrote for the vamp introduction on 'My Favorite Things'
add another dimension to this standard. For one thing, she creates new
and imaginative pictures with these unexpected lyrics...Hearing her
creative additions to an established standard provided me with some
insight into the risks she takes with her own compositions - lyrics
and melodies....Bull's vocal expession is compelling...Bull's vocalizations
sound effortless. She lithely glides and soars through a wordless chorus,
eventually sliding into the simple lyric she created....(on) "On
A Clear Day" Bull uses this opportunity to show how magnificently
she can sustain and work with single notes, long tones, exquisitely
embracing them, shading and coloring them, and expressing them with
confidence and aplomb, as her own. ...and then we get a chance to enjoy
her scat singing - essentially doing what jazz is all about: improvising.
She convincingly creates lively, swinging lines - with ease. ..I liked
the off-center nature of Bull's original lyriucand melodies. I loved
her interpretation of ballands and standards. But, what I enjoyed the
most throughout Love Spook was the sensitive interaction, the improvised
musical dialogue between Bull and her bandmates - Kimbrough, Wind, Wilson,
and vice versa."
"Bull
chooses musicians who are as FREE-SPIRITED as she is..."
(CADENCE MAGAZINE)
JOE FONDA is a composer, bassist,
recording artist, interdisciplinary performer, and producer. An accomplished
international Jazz artist, Fonda has performed with his own ensembles
throughout the United States and Europe, and as a side man with Archie
Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith,
Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Mark Whitecage, Marion
Brown, and Bill Dixon. Fonda was the bassist with the renowned Anthony
Braxton sextet, octet, and tentet, from 1984 through 1999. Other organizations
or musicians Joe has been involved with include the Tri-Centric Foundation;
The Tri-Centric Orchestra under the direction of AnthonyBraxton; The
Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith; The American
Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world renowned tap
dancer Brenda Bufalino; Fred Ho’s Jazz and Peking Opera; Sonomama
Dance Company; Kaleidoscope Arts; and numerous CDs and tours with The
Fonda-Stevens Group; From the Source (Bufalino and healing artist Vicki
Dodd); & Conference Call (a quartet, featuring drummers, Han Benik
and Matt Wilson, with pianist Michael Jefry Stevens). Conference Call
has released two CDs, one on Soul Note, Final Answer and one on Leo
Records Variations on a Master Plan. The FAB Trio, (featuring Joe Fonda,
Barry Altschul, and Billy Bang), has just released its first CD, Transforming
the Space, on CIMP Records. Joe is the bassist on Katie Bull’s
premiere CD, Conversations with the Jokers, and is the “Joe”
on the soon to be released album, The Bull-Fonda Duo: Cup of Joe, No
Bull on Corn Hill Indie.
FRANK KIMBROUGH has been active
on the New York scene for more than twenty years and has been a composer-in-residence
of the Jazz Composers Collective since its inception in 1992. He has
made 12 recordings as a leader for the Palmetto, OmniTone, Soul Note,
and Mapleshade labels. As a sideman, his work includes recordings and
tours with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Ben Allison’s Medicine
Wheel, Ted Nash and Still Evolved, Michael Blake’s Elevated Quartet,
and groups led by Ron Horton, Rich Perry, Joe Locke and Kendra Shank
among others.
MICHAEL JEFRY STEVENS is a pianist
and composer who performs extensively in Europe and North America. He
was the “Margaret Lee Crofts Fellow for 2000–2001”
at the MacDowell Artist Colony and recently received 2nd prize in the
prestigious Monaco International Jazz Composition Contest. Michael currently
co-leads several working musical ensembles including The Fonda/Stevens
Group, the Conference Call Quartet, the Stevens/Siegel/Ferguson Trio,
and the Memphis Jazz Composer’s Workshop Big Band. He has released
over 40 CDs which feature his original music including most recently
Spirals: The Berlin Concert on 482 Music and Play on Drimala Records.
Artists he has performed and/or recorded with include Dave Douglas,
Mark Feldman, Han Bennink, CharlesMoffett, Cecil Bridgewater, Valery
Ponomarev, Gerry Hemingway, Miles Griffith, Leo Smith, Thomas Chapin,
Gebhard Ullmann, Herb Robertson, Matt Wilson, Dominic Duval and Dave
Liebman. Michael is the pianist on Katie Bull’s premiere CD, Conversations
with the Jokers on Corn Hill Indie
MATT WILSON loves to play music.
Matt is very fortunate to play music with great musicians all over the
world. Matt loves to play on recordings and make his own recordings
for Palmetto records. Matt loves to play in bands and loves leading
his own bands. Matt loves being a father and husband. Matt was thrilled
to be a part of Katie Bull’s compact disc adventure with folks
he adores. Matt loves to laugh. Matt loves to cook and drink wine. Matt
loves New York. Matt has a fun-filled website he thinks you will enjoy,
www.mattwilsonjazz.com. Matt hopes you all have a nice day.
Matt Wilson appears courtesy of Palmetto Records. Matt Wilson plays
Zildjian cymbals and sticks, Pearl drums and Remo drumheads.
MARTIN WIND is a bassist and
composer who works as both a jazz and classical musician. He is currently
an adjunct faculty member of the Jazz Department at New York University
and has served as a bass instructor/rhythm section trainer for the National
Youth Jazz Orchestra, Germany. Martin has worked with the following
artists/orchestras: Radiobigbands Cologne, Frankfurt & Berlin; Mstislav
Rostropowitsch and Valerie Gergejiev with the German Soviet Young Philharmonie;
Gidon Kremer; Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Pat Metheny, Curtis Fuller,
Jiggs Whigham, Ken Peplowsky, Jeff Hamilton, John Taylor, Bucky Pizzarelli,
Lalo Schifrin, Monty Alexander, Toots Thielemans, Mark Murphy, Marvin
Stamm, Phil Woods, Carol Sloane, Eddie Daniels, Johnny Griffin, Claudio
Roditi, Bill Charlap, Vic Juris, Grady Tate, Mike Stern, Jim McNeely
and the Village Vanguard Orchestra among others. Martin is currently
working in the trios of pianists Bill Mays, Dena DeRose, and Don Friedman
and is a bandleader in his own right. In 1995, Martin won Third Prize
at the International Thelonious Monk Bass Competition in Washington,
D.C., and in 2001, he was awarded the Cultural Prize of his home state
of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, as the first Jazz musician to receive
this award.
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