Wild Blue Herons featuring Darlene Cooper & Bill Sample

IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE

Independent Label

Darlene Cooper and Bill Sample write in their liner notes:

“Wild Blue Herons added a horn section in 2023, and we have morphed into a more groove-oriented band. This album captures the diverse sound of our writing from jazzy swing to funky ballads and everywhere in between, with the added layer of Bill’s horn arrangements,” the creative duo shares.

They open with Mr. Wiggley, a Bill Sample original.  It’s funky and melodic, with Steve Hilliam’s tenor saxophone bright and boisterous. He sparkles on this arrangement. Track #2 is titled, “Live in the Moment,” a very pop, smooth jazz tune that features Darlene Cooper singing us the title like a mantra. Guitarist Tim Porter puts the funk into the tune during his solo.  I can see this tune getting plenty of airplay, with the background voices adding warmth and commerciality to the arrangement.

Darlene Cooper started singing solos in church at aged three. She inserted her musical passion into soul music, gospel, funk and the jazz music of the 1970s.  Wild Blue Herons is a jazz and soul band that she co-leads with Bill Sample. They are popular performing in and around Canadian  clubs and concerts.

Bill Sample is founder of the Marcus Mosely Chorale and is the Music Director and arranger for them. He has a degree in Music Composition from the University of Victoria and he has studied arranging at Berklee College in Boston, but he’s based in Canada. Sample was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame. His career has spanned four decades. The pianist is on the A-List of musicians in Vancouver, Canada. He played on the Grammy-winning “Ratatouille” soundtrack. This album of music that he and Darleen Cooper have recorded feature songs they composed together. It’s very contemporary, commercial, and with positive uplifting lyrics. You hear their positive messages on songs like “It’s All About Love” and “Whatcha Gonna Do With Your Life.”

Both Cooper and Sample are established composers.  This album showcases their creative abilities, their lyrical compassion for humanity, and their melodic original music.

WILD BLUE HERONS: Darlene Cooper, lead vocal; Bill Sample, piano/Hammond Organ/Fender Rhodes; Tim Porter, guitar; Miles Foxx Hill, bass; Randall Stoll, drums; Steve Hilliam, tenor saxophone; Jim Hopson, trombone; Tom Keenlyside, flute; Dawn Pemberton, Guest lead vocal; BACKGROUND VOCALS: Jane Mortifee, Dawn Pemberton, Darlene Cooper & Bill Sample.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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