Liana
Gabel – Rest And Heal (Independent)
From Rochester, NY, Liana Gabel has been singing for
as far back as she can remember. She picked up a guitar for the first time when
she was 16, began writing her own songs almost immediately, and studied
classical voice for two years at the State University of New York. A further
course in jazz studies has helped shape both her singing and writing, and “Rest
And Heal” is her second full-length collection of original songs.
Thanks to her musical education and her own
idiosyncratic talent, Gabel possesses a sound and style that’s truly impossible
to pin down. If forced to express an opinion on possible influences, my list
would include names like Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush, Regina Spector and Rickie
Lee Jones, but without hearing Gabel sing her songs, simple comparisons don’t
really work.
Though she’s also steeped in the singer-songwriter
tradition, “Rest And Heal” is very much a full band production. Apart from
Gabel there are no less than nine other musicians and vocalists credited, and
the range of instrumentation is equally impressive, from violin, saxophone and
piano to flugelhorn and mellophone (looks like a big trumpet, but sounds like a
French Horn).
Fortunately, her songs remain at the centre of the
arrangements, whichever instruments are employed. The album begins with the
title track and one of her best; it arrives on spartan piano, with just Gabel’s
arresting voice carrying the melody, before quickly evolving into a full band number,
with brass and strings adding powerful emphasis to the words. On “Big Sur”
Gabel is joined on vocals by Natalie Ryan, and the shuffling, jazzy rhythm is
wonderfully engaging - and final cut, “Another Place
Another Time”, stretches and flexes its musical muscle, and both Gabel
and her musicians respond in kind. Great stuff.
Phil S.
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