Musik / jazz

Looking at the moon


Anmeldelser (4)


Dusted

d. 10. juli 2018

af

af

Derek Taylor

d. 10. juli 2018

"The polar opposite of an ingénue, vocalist Allegra Levy drew more than one ace from the deck on her Steeplechase debut. Both tenorist Stephen Riley and cornetist Kirk Knuffke graced her ensemble for that date and an eclectic folio of songs supplied welcome fodder for everyone's talents and interpretation. Looking at the Moon scales back and dials in focus both in terms of content and crew. Pianist Carmen Staaf, guitarist Alex Goodman and bassist Tim Norton converge as a rhythm section that's both responsive to and anticipatory of Levy's needs as songstress and the warm studio sound enriches a program with a very distinct thematic focus".


The Arts Fuse

d. 29. juli 2018

af

af

Steve Provizer

d. 29. juli 2018

"In Looking at the Moon, Levy has assembled tunes, musicians, and arrangements that generally maximize her strengths. She sings in tune, even when tackling long sustained notes, she has a keen sense of dynamics and of how to shape words to suit the feeling of the music. She is at her strongest when purveying certain specific moods - melancholy, playful, even lightly ironic. Moods, come to think of it, that are associated with the moon".


DownBeat

2018 October

af

af

Scott Yanow

2018 October

"Allegra Levy has a soft and quietly emotional voice. It swings lightly, but with conviction, and it is sensitive in her interpretation of lyrics ... The 13 songs either have the word "moon" in its titel or in the lyrics. In addition to the well-known [standards], Levy makes Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Cat Stevens' "Moonshadow" and Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" sound as if they were composed in the 1950s. The singer is joined here in the intimate, drumless setting by pianist Carmen Staaf, guitarist Alex Goodman and bassist Tim Norton ... Enough atmospheric and tempo variations are included in the program to keep the music from being too sleepy, but this is definitely a laid-back and dreamy late-night affair".


Jazz special

Nr. 162 (2018)

af

af

Jakob Hassing

Nr. 162 (2018)

"Det er forståeligt, at produceren og pladeselskabsejeren Nils Winther er begejstret for Levy, som befinder sig i et behageligt mainstream-land - og det er afgjort positivt ment. Tema-album om månen er hørt før, og ikke alle fortolkninger er lige originale, men blandt andet Neil Youngs "Harvest Moon" og Cat Stevens' "Moonshadow" fremstår stærkt, måske også fordi de er nyere sange, der ikke ofte er blevet behandlet i en jazzkontekst. Så er det en lidt større udfordring at give nyt liv til standards som Rodgers og Harts "Blue Moon" eller Arlen, Harburg og Roses "It's Only A Paper Moon", men det er ikke desto mindre, hvad Levy lykkes med ganske fint. "Blue Moon" tilfører hun et uimodståeligt og finurligt swing, og "Paper Moon" får en let forceret overhaling. Og glimrende med Nat King Cole-instrumentationen piano, guitar og bas, der skaber den rette natklubstemning".