Album Reviews

It takes a rocker with "brass in pocket" to deliver a jazz album. It takes more than that to produce a great one, which is what Hynde does on Valve Bone Woe, the title of which was her trombonist brother's "beatnik haiku" response to hearing about the passing of Bob Brookmeyer. Hynde here is no jazz pretender.

Let's leave aside that on the back cover the 68 year old with two kids looks great! More importantly she sound great on this 14 song, well-chosen set backed by a "small band" plus brass and winds-rich orchestra and a string section that sounds and is large (30 strings in all).

Hynde refers to the album as a Jazz/Dub record, but how its characterized isn't important. Her mission statement says "Jazz got sidelined by Rock & Roll in the 60's, but now the demise of rock seems to be heralding in a newfound interest in it, the most creative and innovative musical forms of the 20th century. I'm happy to jump on the bandwagon."

You'll be happily climb onboard when you find out how it's been produced, arranged, recorded and presented. This self-produced and I assume funded effort is 100% "top shelf" beginning with the orchestral and string recordings done at Air Studios with most of Hynde's vocals apparently recorded there as well. The engineer Tom Bailey gives you the big de-sanctified church's room sound behind the orchestra and strings in a strictly "old school" plenty of mike leakage recording that you're sure to appreciate.

Were it not for Hynde's passionate singing, the smart, daring and sometimes busy arrangements by Marius de Vries and Eldad Guetta would star and overwhelm, but as it is everyone shines. Hynde doesn’t have a big voice, but it’s big enough and she makes up for size with intimacy. She covers nothing with excess reverb, nor is any required.

The smartly accomplished A&R work and tracking has Hynde covering everything from the opening, sassy oft-covered octave jumping “How Glad I am” directly into Brian Wilson’s “Caroline No” to Frank Sinatra’s “I’m A Fool To Want You” with Hoagy Carmichael’s “I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)” ending an eclectic side. The dub elements can be heard behind the orchestra, particularly behind “Caroline No” where echoey reverb ripples punctuate the space behind the orchestra throughout and like waves, break across the song’s ending. The string-drenched “I’m a Fool to Want You” follows to smooth out the dub disruption.

Other covers include Mingus’s “Meditation on a Pair of Wire Cutters” (instrumental giving the orchestra some stretch time), “Wild Is the Wind” (daring given Bowie’s cover, not to mention Nina Simone’s), Nick Drake’s “River Man”, Coltrane’s “Naima” (a dreamy instrumental take with lots of room space behind the ensemble, with a Pet Sounds reminiscent arrangement) and one before the closer Ray Davies’ “No Return” from The Kinks’ 1967 albumSomething Else. Make of the former lover’s lyrics what you wish: “For you were my first love, And now it looks like you’ve gone, And I have waited too long”.

Most importantly, Hynde is in fine interpretive voice. On her early Pretenders records she exclaimed and declaimed somewhat non-tunefully more than she sang melodically but here she exhibits a finely-honed vibrato, a wide range and a mastery of each song’s meaning. Jobim’s “Once I Loved”, backed by a sumptuous arrangement Claus Ogerman might love clearly demonstrates that. She gives Diana Krall a run for her swinging simplicity money. Not kidding!

Everything about this package demonstrates Hynde’s commitment to high quality. The gatefold jacket space isn’t wasted. On the left inside you get songs and full publishing credits plus every player named with which tracks they are on, plus of course production credits. The right side consists of session photos. Even the graphics were smartly turned (and copped from Epic and Columbia Records!). Maybe Boomers growing up with The Pretenders never imagined The Pretenders’ “chick singer” covering “Hello Young Lovers” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” but Chrissie Hynde has lived it, earned it and delivers it.

The vinyl mastering by Eric Boulanger at The Bakery, cut half-speed on Stan Ricker’s lathe is full-bodied and with four sides with which to work, dynamic and transparent.

Plenty here to keep the ears, mind and heart occupied. Hey Boomer! I can hear your “man of few words” brother saying “Hey, sis, you can effing sing jazz!”