Julia Dollison
Observatory
© 2005 Like So Music (837101094184)
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Contemporary jazz voice featuring fresh, original arrangements with modern pop influence.
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"THERE'S THIS SINGER I want you to meet. She's really, really good." I must hear at least three variations per month on that tired old theme, but when Maria Schneider spoke those words to me five years ago, I took them seriously. What kind of jazz singer, I asked myself, would be interesting enough to catch the ear of the outstanding big-band composer of her generation?
Here's the answer.
It starts with the voice: warm, airy, dappled with summer sunshine, technically bulletproof from top to bottom. (Check out those honking low notes in "Your Mind Is on Vacation.") Such voices are born, not made, and Julia Dollison has one. Yet she never coasts on her chops. Instead, she sings like a horn player in love with lyrics, the way Lester Young knew all the words to every ballad he played. Her solos are pointed and meaningful, little musical stories that take you to places you've never been.
Then comes the style, an alchemical blend of jazz and pop that makes Harold Arlen and Rufus Wainwright sound not like strange bedfellows but the oldest of friends. Don't call it "fusion," though: that might smack of calculation, and there's nothing calculated about Julia's singing. She grew up listening to all kinds of music, and now she just sings what she hears, naturally and unselfconsciously.
Did I mention the arrangements? Actually, that's not quite the right word for her root-and-branch deconstructions of standards. They pass through her mind like light through a prism, emerging refracted and transformed. "In a Mellotone" is nudged into a joltingly ironic minor key, while "Night and Day" is superimposed atop a Coltrane-like harmonic steeplechase. "All the Things You Are" becomes a spacious, Latin-flavored soundscape decorated with the pastel washes of overdubbed vocals that are Julia's trademark. Her own beautifully crafted songs contain the same surprising twists and turns, and their presence here, far from being an indulgence, is an indispensable part of the large-scale compositional scheme of Observatory. For this is no mere string of unrelated tunes but a painstakingly wrought musical self-portrait, one whose organic unity is embodied in the sonic collage with which the album begins. Its meaning is revealed bit by bit and song by song, then made fully manifest at the end, like Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
It says a lot about Julia that she chose to record her first album not with a supportive, semi-anonymous journeyman pianist but in the perilously fast company of Ben Monder, the avant-garde jazz guitarist whose obliquely tilted solos have long been one of the brightest colors in Maria Schneider's palette. Monder is a major instrumental voice in and of his own right, and his powerfully individual playing could easily have blown a lesser singer right out of the studio. Instead, Julia floats serenely above it like a morning star, wafted aloft by the propulsive yet thoughtful interplay of Matt Clohesy and Ted Poor.
As I watched Observatory take shape, I thought, This isn't going to be your ordinary debut album. And sure enough, it isn't. Julia Dollison has something arrestingly new to say. Listen and marvel.
-Terry Teachout
reviews
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All the reviews are spot on...splendid entertainment.
author: Bob FrontzVery good production, wonderful instrumental backup, great choice of songs. Favorites..#9 & #11..but enjoyed all.
Wow, Wow, Wow!!!
author: Angie T.There's not a note on this CD I don't like. What an incredible first release. The arrangements are amazing, and Julia's vocals are just stellar. Bravo!
WE ARE FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!!
author: Steve & Jennifer Barnes, L.A. jazz artists/educatorsSo much incredible, fresh, burning music ... you rock!!! WE ARE FREAKING OUT!!!!!
A breath of fresh air...
author: Kerry Marsh, jazz arranger/educator“Observatory” is a breath of fresh air...diverse, unique, captivating, and wonderfully new...it’s one of the most beautiful collections of music I’ve ever heard. This is a landmark debut recording from a long-awaited voice in the jazz vocal scene.
One of the best releases I've heard...
author: Ron Miller, jazz composer/pianist/educatorIt is so beautiful in every way: the music, programming, singing, playing, and the presentation is so cool. I love the interludes you included and was knocked out with your over-dubbed harmonies. Your singing is so soulful and pretty, and the band is state-of-the-art – in short, it is one of the best releases I have heard of recent efforts.
A masterpiece...
author: Terry Teachout, New York arts criticI think "Observatory" is a masterpiece, one of the most fully realized debut albums by a jazz singer that I've heard in my entire listening life. It sums up every aspect of your art. A thousand hats off to you for effortlessly rising to the challenge...
Spectacular...You're a monstress!
author: Maria Schneider, Grammy-winning jazz composerIt's so beautiful! Wow, the writing, the singing, the production, everyone's playing! Ben is so great…and I love the background vocals. Spectacular. You're a monstress!
Great musicians are hard to come by!
author: Kat MidonWe are so excited to be the first to post here - Julia Dollison is a musical genius. How do I know? I married one myself and I can just tell... Leave it at that... We haven't heard this album yet but we've heard Julia's earlier work... She is a force to be reckoned with! We will be checking the mail daily until we get this much anticipated album from someone with skills that match her "god given" talent...