Cassandra Wilson: Loverly

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Gary Giddins wrote in the New Yorker: "'Loverly' suggests excitement from the first — Jason Moran’s jaunty sixteen-bar piano introduction to 'Lover Come Back to Me,' built on a two-note figure played over a quick shuffle rhythm. … Despite the familiarity of the album’s material, there isn’t much nostalgia here. For Wilson and the band, the songs aren’t covered in the barnacles of previous interpretations; it’s as if they had just been discovered in an old trunk. Wilson occasionally uses flat intonation as a spur, creating a moment of tension before stressing the notes and chords that define a song’s arc. The band is superb throughout. Moran phrases on the beat and against it, meshes clattering chords with the rhythm section, and adds harmonic twists that knock the songs slightly askew. Lonnie Plaxico, the bassist on all but the duet selections, is strong and limber, and Herlin Riley’s robust drumming is amplified by the resourceful Nigerian percussionist Lekan Babalola. (Nicholas Payton, uncredited, plays a trumpet solo on 'Lover Come Back to Me,' overdubbed during a sound mix.)" (6/23/08)