Considering Lisa Rich’s powerful, emotionally trying back story of triumph over adversity, it’s nothing short of a miracle that we have the endlessly inventive jazz vocalist’s latest album Long As You’re Living at all. Forced to give up her thriving performing and recording career in the late 80s due to an ongoing debilitating illness – after which she applied her ample talents to the rewarding realm of vocal teaching – Rich graced us in 2019 with Highwire, an album chock full of fascinating vocal renditions of original Chick Corea tunes that she had recorded in 1987.
This set the stage for her to work with her (now late) friend and producer Jay Clayton on this exquisite and exciting, surprise filled new collection – technically the first she’s recorded in over 35 years. After many Zoom lessons with Clayton and a few online pandemic-era concerts, Lisa entered the studio. “When the band played the introduction to the first song, and it was time for my entrance,” she says, “I had tears. It seemed my dream had come true.”
Buoyed by the swinging yet sensitive trio of East Coast heavies Marc Copland (piano), Drew Gress (bass) and Dave Ballou (trumpet), the singer’s eclectic set finds her in giddy, happy to be alive mode from the start, infusing the cheery, life affirming title track with her wild and witty phrasing and whimsical, multi-octave scatting – a must be heard to be believed mastery that drives the whimsical magic of the Clayton penned “New Morning Blues,” featuring a Lisa-crafted interpretation based on a sax solo by Paul Desmond, and the offbeat oddly metered closing track “Haperchance/Drifting Dreaming.”
While lighthearted up-tempo gems like “Long As You’re Living,” “Throw It Away” and “Isotope” reflect the overall jubilant energy Lisa brings to her comeback, she balances those with ballads (“When I Look In Your Eyes,” Jimmy Rowles’ “Lonely Woman”) that reflect a sensitive, soul-intuitive artistry reflective of someone who’s lived a long, fulfilling but also often difficult and challenging life. This album will make every jazz fan grateful that Lisa’s still living and thriving – and will hopefully inspire her to keep the comeback going in years to come.
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