Faye Carol

Forever Dynamic (2-LP/2-CD)

Getdown

Vocalist Faye Carol has for decades been the darling of the blues-jazz scene in the Bay Area, but has not received much national recognition until now with this double release. Forever Dynamic. As with many relatively unknown talents that lack national stature, those in the know know. On the inside flap of the CD jacket, Billy Hart, Ledisi, Benny Green, Buster Williams, Allison Miller, and Patti Cathcart of Tuck & Patti pay praiseworthy tribute to her. Not only that, but Carol has shared the stage with countless artists of jazz and blues royalty. Besides, her backing trio here is also of high stature. Joe Warner is the pianist and musical director, bringing a resume that includes Houston Person, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Herlin Riley, Mary Stallings, Billy Hart, Buster Williams, Gary Bartz, and more. New York bassist Tarus Mateen is a longtime member of Jason Moran’s Bandwagon. Drummer Dennis Chambers has earned his place behind the kit for Santana and Parliament-Funkadelic.

Carol doesn’t pigeonhole herself as a jazz or blues singer, but as someone deeply invested in all forms of Black music. You might expect her to be polished after decades of experience, but she often sounds rough and raw. Her vocals slightly evoke those of Bettye LaVette, but with completely different phrasing and comparable, though different, interpretative ability. She’s fearless, unafraid to transform such popular fare as “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” or “Unforgettable.” Yet, the range of her repertoire is staggering, from bebop classics of Dizzy Gillespie to the ragtime of Fats Waller and Scott Joplin, and to the early blues of Ida Cox and the soulful Malaco stylings of George Jackson. Besides, she takes on selections by Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, and Billie Holiday, as well as heavily covered standards. She puts her stamp on all of them, sometimes twisting them beyond recognition. As you can glean, she is a historian, but also has quite the improvisatory flair.

It’s best to start with the familiar tunes. She transforms Frankie Valli’s mega hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” into a syncopated, declarative, sing-along soul tune, powered by Warner’s buoyant piano. She brings drama to the Shirley Horn favorite, “Here’s to Life,” without being the least bit emulative. For example, there is no a capella ending. In the process, she leaves plenty of room for her backing trio, as Mateen especially impresses with his vibrant bass. “Body and Soul” doesn’t adhere to a strict ballad rendering. Instead, Carol and her trio take the middle section up-tempo. Warner takes a rollicking solo. Carol imbues the standard “Nature Boy” with her trademark swagger but goes more straightforward with her deliberate, jazz-inflected interpretation of Ida Cox’s “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues.”

She begins Disc 2 with Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So,” proving again that ‘smooth” is not part of her delivery. Of course, the ultimate in ‘smooth’ is “Unforgettable” where Carol doesn’t at all channel Nat King Cole or his daughter, Natalie’s versions. She makes it a funky jazz tune instead. Yet, she proves her versatility to be tender in her reading of Lee Morgan’s “Ceora.” Rather than take the sultry route in Billie Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow” as Catherine Russell and Cecile McLorin Salvant, or even upstart Stella Heath have, Carol gives it a highly rhythmic jazz treatment, accented by Chambers’ drumming. The album closes with Carol and Warner’s put-to-music poem by Maya Angelou, “I Rise, I Rise, Still I Rise,” sounding positively joyful in the rendering, replete with yodels and raise-the-roof gospel flair.

So, the comparison to Bettye LaVette notwithstanding, Faye Carol is as unique a vocalist as any. Let’s hope the national exposure raises her profile.

– Jim Hynes

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