ANNA KOLCHINA

REACH FOR TOMORROW

OA2 Records

Anna Kolchina, vocals; Paul Bolenback, Peter Bernstein, Ilya Lushtak, Romero Lubambo, Russell Malone, & Yotam Silberstein, guitars.

Anna Kolchina’s album is a collection of moments that represent chapters of her life.  It’s a duet album, featuring various guitar accompanists, six different musicians over a period of five years.

Anna was born in the Soviet Union, eighteen hours outside of Moscow. She attended the music conservatory in St. Petersburg.  In Italy, she met Sheila Jordan, who encouraged her to pack up her voice and move to New York. She arrived on the East Coast in 2017. The result is this third album, “Reach for Tomorrow.”

Kolchina opens with a seasoned and lovely song from the American Songbook, “Dancing in the Dark.”  The vocalist begins this song without accompaniment, her voice angelic and pure. She garners all my attention.  Ilya Lushtak joins her on guitar after the opening introductory verse.  This is music that’s warm and tender. It’s soulful, in a way that touches my heart with its honest, simplistic artistry. Anna Kolchina’s voice is hypnotic. She makes me feel comfortable. They recorded it July 15, 2021.

Kolchina sings songs we know and love. On “Who Can I Turn To?” she features Peter Bernstein.  He also accompanies her on “Invitation” and “All or Nothing at All.”

“New York City is a place where you can become friends with your heroes.  I feel incredibly grateful and humbled to have recorded this album with musicians I once could not even have dreamed of working with. Collaborating with these remarkable artists, each of whom brings their own voice and energy, was a true gift,” Anna writes in her liner notes about these wonderful guitarists.

Each musician brings their own talent and personality to these songs.   On What Now My Love?” and “So Many Stars” Romero Lubambo pulls rich harmonic rhythms from his guitar strings and adds a Latin touch to both arrangements in an understated way. Lubambo’s guitar solo is brilliant during the Sergio Mendes composition with incredible lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Anna delivers the words with emotional purpose and believability.

Russell Malone brings the blues alive on “Vacation from the Blues.” Anna and Russell recorded this one back in August of 2023. Since blues is one of the basic roots of jazz, I was happy to see that Anna included this Johnny Mandel and Arthur Hamilton tune in her repertoire.

On the old jazz standard, “Wrap your Troubles in Dreams,” plucked from 1931 when Bing Crosby recorded this hit record, Kolchina is joined by Paul Bollenback on guitar.  They took to the studio in 2024 to record this tune.  I used to hear my grandmother sing this one in her kitchen. It brought back warm memoires. Bollenback also accompanies Anna on “Whistling Away the Dark” a Mancini and Mercer song that was new to my ears.  Kolchina closes this album on a high note with the title tune, “Reach for Tomorrow” dueting with guitarist, Yotam Silberstein.

Here is an album of wonderful music that features master guitarists and the impressive vocals of Anna Kolchina.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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