Album Reviews

While the Mississippi born, now New York based Wilson is labeled a "jazz singer," she's strayed far from her original comfort zone to cover everyone from The Monkees to Van Morrison to Robert Johnson—and more importantly done it effectively by re-imagining both the familiar arrangements and the listener's every musical expectation. These are not "jazzed up" covers.

This 1993 release (on CD-only) was critically acclaim for every reason. The A&R work was smart, covering everything from a sultry, steaming version of Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen" to a cooly deconstructed rendering of Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow" and a simmering take on Van Morrison's"Tupelo Honey," to the closing stunner: Wilson's take on Ann Peebles' classic "I Can't Stand the Rain" backed by the late slide guitar genius Chris Whitley on National resophonic guitar in an arrangement created by the duo.

The album opens with the oft-covered jazz classic "You Don't Know What Love Is," originally written for, of all things, a 1941 Abbott and Costello movie "Keep 'em Flying" but cut before the film's release. Since then it's been covered by everyone from Miles Davis to Ella to Marvin Gaye. Wilson's take is slow, deep and somewhat dreamy like the rest of the album, which is best heard as a late-night listen.

There's not a less than compelling track among the twelve, both because of Wilson's vocal command and the stunning arrangements by Brandon Ross, Kenny Davis and especially by percussionist Cyro Baptista who produces more interesting sounds and percussive elements in one tune than most manage in an album's worth.

This is a deeply felt, perfectly-realized effort where every percussive twitch adds meaning. You can play a song like "Black Crow" dozens of times before you've explored and catalogued in your mind all of the accents embedded in the arrangement.

But here's the best part about this reissue: it's the first time the album can be heard in its original analog format. Produced by Craig Street and engineered by Danny Kopelson, with the exception of "I Can't Stand the Rain," "You Don't Know What Love Is" "Sankofa" and "Tupelo Honey," it was all recorded at Walter Sear's temple of analog and tube gear Sear Sound on 2"30 IPS analog tape and mixed down to 1/2" analog tape.

The Ann Peebles song was recorded at Sound on Sound by Jimmy Douglass, while the opener and "Tupelo Honey" were recorded at Greene Street studios and "Sankofa" at RPM where the entire album was mixed. But because of the time—1993— the analog recording and mix were not issued on vinyl, which was then a medium left for dead. What a shame.

So now, for the first time, here it is mastered from the original analog tape (or perhaps a copy) and issued on double Pallas-pressed vinyl! And while Capitol mastering's Ron McMaster is not my favorite lacquer cutter, and though few would list him among the great "audiophile quality" mastering engineers, he's done a great job here.

If you only know this from the CD, you're in for a three-dimensional, textural shock. If you don't know this record at all, you're in for the same shock. The sonics are superb, from the three-dimensional imaging and soundstaging to the ultra-transparency and rich atmospherics, this double LP set has it all. But more importantly, the production, the playing, the arranging and especially the sultry Wilson's vocalizing are transfixing.

Blue Light 'til Dawn has not lost an iota of musical impact since first being issued in 1993 but it has gained a great deal of sonic stature. Highly recommended!