BEAUTIFUL BABY
An Album Review

This Album Review Section is by our Team Nancy Member, B. Douglas Swiszcz, who owns the copyright of the text provided below.

Thank you, Doug!

I first became acquainted with Nancy LaMott's gifts in 1992 when I saw her BEAUTIFUL BABY CD at a local record store. I had never even heard her name before, never read anything about her. But because I'm a big fan of fresh interpretations of the songs of the great composers of American popular music, and saw that Mercer, Carmichael, Rodgers/Hammerstein, and Irving Berlin were all represented on the disc, I thought I'd take a chance and buy it. I was just a bit wary, however, because I'd bought the record- ings of other singers who have attempted to re-interpret the standards and had been disappointed. Some of these singers have precious little under- standing of the material; they sing the notes, but there is no feeling be- hind their arid interpretations. Others are more concerned with promoting their singing voices than with trying to reveal the text of the songs, re- sulting in bombastic displays of vocal acrobatics. I figure that I can always tune in to Top 40 radio if I want to listen to overproduced pop divas whose performances, to borrow from Shakespeare, are full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. I'm constantly on the lookout for a new voice, a singer who not only possesses a beautiful instrument but who also understands and appreciates the songs in her repertoire. Such singers are not always easy to find. Fortunately, I stumbled across Nancy's CD that day and, needless to say, was not disappointed. If first encounters can count for anything, I was totally captivated when I put the disc on.

Those mesmerizing opening notes of "Skylark" told me all I needed to know about Nancy LaMott. Here was a singer who sang with honesty, directness, and a heartfelt simplicity. The Mercer/Carmichael composition has always been one of my favorite songs, but I felt like I was hearing it for the first time. Nancy's singing seemed so effortless to me, as if it were an extension of her speaking voice. In fact, her singing seemed almost conversational to me, with a beseeching quality that made me feel as though she were confiding in me. This is not to imply that her voice was not at all musical. On the contrary, I think that Nancy had one of the best voices I've ever heard, possessing warmth, purity, and a sure pitch. But there was also something very HUMAN in her voice, something that made me connect with her. There was a little catch in her throat, just a slight raspiness from time to time, which made her seem a little vulnerable and (again) human. Besides being struck by Nancy's voice, I was also impressed with her singing style. Nancy had great interpretive skill; she was able to breathe new life into these time-worn chestnuts without abandoning their basic appeal. Not unlike Streisand in the early days of her career, Nancy was able to take songs which had been rendered trite through years of formulaic, muzak arrangements, and invest them with a new validity by simply treating them with the respect that they deserved. For instance, the usually jaunty "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA has never been anywhere near the top of my list of favorite songs. (Chicks and ducks and geese better...huh?) But Nancy's version, sung at a slightly slower tempo, gave me a new appreciation of the romantic aspects of the song. (Kudos should also go to Christopher Marlowe's gorgeous piano arrangement and playing, here and on many other tracks on the CD.) Nancy's interpretations were usually refreshingly straightforward, as if she trusted the material enough to let it speak for itself. Yet she could also surprise us with some inventive twists and turns in both her phrasing and in her altering of the melody line. "Blue Skies," the Irving Berlin warhorse, found Nancy (again abetted by Christopher Marlowe's sterling piano work) beginning with a slow, deliberate take on the song before swinging out for a hot, jazzy finish as she and Marlowe were joined by Ken Sebesky on guitar, Bruce Samuels on bass, and Jim Miller on drums. Nancy also let loose on "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," a song seemingly lifted from an earlier recording of hers (an appearance on an album called MOSTLY MERCER...can anyone fill me in on this record?). There were also nicely shaded readings of two other standards, both by Rodgers & Hammerstein: "I Have Dreamed" (from KING & I) and "It Might as Well Be Spring" (from STATE FAIR). In each, Nancy was able to convey the frustration of being unable to express one's longings or passion for another. The balance of the album consisted of newer material, and credit must go to both Nancy and producer David Friedman for having chosen songs so well-suited to her talents. Nancy convincingly dispelled the negativity of nay-sayers with the optimism of Friedman's own "Help is on the Way." In David Zippel's "Why Don't We Run Away," Nancy asked just that of a special someone so that feelings they once shared might be rekindled. Zippel also wrote (with the wonderful Cy Coleman) "With Every Breath I Take," from the Tony Award-winning musical CITY OF ANGELS. This bluesy number, destined to become a classic, featured some of Nancy's most brilliant vocalizing on the album, and was enhanced by Mike Migliore's oustanding solo on alto sax. Annie Dinerman's "Child In Me Again," about reclaiming the child within each of us, was well-served by the purity of Nancy's voice, which never sounded more wistful as she sang of trying to reach back for "the honesty, the open face, the simple faith and easy grace" which mark our early years before "we all grow older, grow sadder, grow wiser, grow up." The album closed with Rick Jensen's "In Passing Years," about the friendships which sustain us through time. Lovers may come and go, but, if we're lucky, we'll be blessed with one true friend with whom we can sit and share "tea for two." Nancy's sensitive reading of the lyrics and Deborah Assael-Migliore's cello playing made this song a very emotional, touching finale to an outstanding first effort by an artist of great depth. While I have enjoyed all of Nancy's follow-up albums, none of them have been able to capture for me the same feelings of discovery and awe that this first magical enounter with Nancy LaMott did. She will be greatly missed.

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BEAUTIFUL BABY An Album Review

BEAUTIFUL BABY
An Album Review