West of Broadway

豪・シドニー出身の米ジャズ／ブルース歌手のレイチェル・プライスとギタリスト／シンガー・ソングライターのヴィルレイによる人気のデュオ・プロジェクト、レイチェル＆ヴィルレイによる新作アルバム『West of Broadway』。

ブルックリンを拠点とするレイチェル＆ヴィルレイは、トラディショナル・ポップスを独自の解釈で捉え、時代を超越した魅力を放っている。3枚目のアルバム『West of Broadway』では、ボーカリストのレイチェル・プライス（レイク・ストリート・ダイブ）とギタリスト／シンガー／ソングライターのヴィルレイが、愛と悲しみを描いた風変わりな物語に、輝きに満ちたボーカルを乗せ、愛するニューヨークの街を鮮やかに描いた数々の小話を紡ぎ出す。ノスタルジアを超越するウィットと、劇的で大胆な個性が光る10曲を収録。

After releasing two fine albums for Nonesuch, swinging trad jazz and pop vocal duo Rachael Price (Lake Street Drive) and Vilray Blair Bolles release their third long-player on Concord just in time for their appearance at the 2025 Newport Jazz Festival. West of Broadway is a ten-song set that operates at the intersection of swing, warm, rounded West Coast jazz, and musicals, with stellar, unintrusive production by Dan Knobler and expertly arranged by Jacob Zimmerman. They are joined by a sextet that includes vibraphonist/xylophonist/pianist Warren Wolf, saxophonist Steve Wilson, clarinetist/saxophonist Jay Pattman, trombonist Adam Dotson, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer John Riley. Bolles wrote all but one track. Opener "Forever Never Lasts" is a wryly humorous, unlikely love song. It details a couples inability to remain divorced. Vilrays guitar and Pattmans baritone sax accompany them atop a brushed drum kit; trombone and bass hold it down as they trade verses in their trademark conversational style before coming together sweetly on the refrain. Wolfs vibes solo swings like mad before Dotson and Pattmans clarinet follow in kind. "Is It Jim?" is a bittersweet torch song delivered by Price as a heartbroken woman who has come to believe that her missing partner has transmuted into a tortoise! Its surreal, but the poignant tenderness in Vilrays lyrics direct Prices wonderful delivery. "My Key to Gramercy Park" could be from a Broadway musical. There are excellent solos from Pattman on bass clarinet, Vilrays guitar, and Wolfs canny, lyrical vibes solo before Wilson winds in and bridges melody and rhythm. The harmony between saxophone and trombone is a chefs kiss. "The Stuff" is a very traditional pop number that recalls the early New York cabaret era while flirting with vaudeville. Miners swinging upright bass solo and Wolfs xylophone break add a sophisticated, ironic humor to the lyric. "Closer" is a jazz ballad anchored in pop. The interplay between Wilson, Wolf, Pattman, and Miner erects a solid backdrop in an otherwise ethereal torch song. The finger-popping, Tin Pan Alley-inspired jazz-pop of "Love Comes Around" swings with gorgeous interplay between the rhythm section and frontline players, and solos by Dotson, Wolf, and Wilson add another timeless layer by using the language of 50s cool jazz to anchor Prices modern vocals. "Off Broadway" offers a contrasting argument. Vilrays lyrics romantically look at the legend of Broadway, then contrast it with its darker side. Guest and late-night TV host Stephen Colbert offers excellent harmony accompaniment to Rachel & Vilray before Pattman and Wilson begin winding their solos around that melody. The sets only cover is the iconic "Manhattan Serenade" by Harold Adamson and Louis Alter. The vocal interaction between the pair is cheery, tender, and tight. Wolfs vibes solo sends the tune into the stratosphere as the set closes. While the duos previous two outings displayed inspiration and musical aplomb, West of Broadway simultaneously revisits American cool jazz and trad pop while innovating on them with edifying charts, gorgeous orchestration, and vocal sophistication unequaled in this era. ~ Thom Jurek