Archives for September 21, 2008

Anyone who has followed music and entertainment in the West Michigan area for any length of time is familiar with Francesca Amari. She”s an immensely talented vocalist/song stylist, cabaret performer, and front woman. She”s also one of the sweetest gals you”ll ever run into. Francesca is as genuinely, flat-out nice as she is lovely, which is to say that she”s a very nice person indeed.\r\n\r\nShe is also richly rewarding to work with in a musical context. So when she asked me to do a vocal-saxophone duet with her on her debut solo CD, Better Days, I felt singularly blessed. The tune, “Good Morning, Heartache,” is the first of eleven on an album that reflects the broad range of Francesca”s musical interests and influences. The selections range from jazz to show tunes to pop, and, besides Francesca”s vocals, they feature the keyboard artistry of producer Wright McCargar.\r\n\r\nVocally, Francesca is superb, and her personality and humor shine through. This is more than a well-crafted, tightly produced CD–it”s fun! From the melancholy irony of “Stars and the Moon,” to the sassy, blues-dipped “The Best Is Yet to Come,” to the hauntingly lovely title cut, “Better Days,” Francesca has served up an engaging and rewarding fare. Spotlighting Wright on piano as the primary accompaniment, the CD is a superb example–and, in this age of overproduced studio gloss, a rare one–of how less is more, and of how a minimalist approach can maximize creativity and musicality.\r\n\r\nFrancesca is in New York as I write these words. I hope she”s having a blast. I”m pretty sure that at some point, she”ll read this post, so I”ll just personalize it here and say, “Well done, Lady Day.”\r\n\r\nAnd to the rest of you: If you live in West Michigan, come to Francesca”s CD breakout gig on October 14 at One Trick Pony in downtown Grand Rapids. Hope to see you there!