Album Review: Tis Autumn from Marty Elkins

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Album:  'Tis Autumn
Artist:  Marty Elkins
Label:  Elktone Records 
Websites: www.martyelkins.com
                  facebook.com/ocdivagirl/ 
                  mikerichmondmusic.com 
                  facebook.com/mike.richmond.378 
                  jazzheads.com (distributor) 
 
Jazz siren Marty Elkins demonstrates a heavenly sonorous on her latest release 'Tis Autumn.  Accompanied by Mike Richmond on bass and cello,  the pair weave bewitching interpretations of several standard jazz scores. From the emulsifying caress of Richmond's pluckings and strums to Elkins' magnetic elocution, the recording seduces the listener with its hypnotic  strut.  The spacious waddle of Richmond's playing gives Elkins the freedom to tool around with her phrasing and vocal nuances.  The swinging melodic grooves provide a trampoline for her vocal leaps and bolster the soulful granulars in her register.

The smooth bristling in Richmond's bass trelises the trundling stride of his cello as Elkins' vocals bow and recline at a leisurely rotation along "Stairway To The Stars," composed by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.  Bernice Petkere and Joe Young's Tin Pan Alley treasure "Lullaby Of The Leaves" spotlights Elkins' scat calls, prevailing a feline glide while paving a sultry lisp along "My Mother's Eyes" as Richmond's cello strings contour her vocals with tender footprints. The lounging cadence in her swagger through "I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues" is sweetened by the honeyed tones in her resonance, and stoke a romantic gleam along "Old Devil Moon."

A jazz stylist, Elkins' fluid crooning bows and flares to punctuate the emotions smoldering beneath the lyrics.  Her sleek phrasing bonds to Richmond's syncopated pivots and smooth swerves.  Elkins' command of the verses is penetrative, entrancing audiences.  All the songs on the release are written between 1926 and 1947, having survived the changing cycles of listening music.  In the hands of Elkins and Richmond, these songs project a contemporary tilt as though they were written yesterday especially for Marty Elkins.

Musicians:
Marty Elkins - vocals
Mike Richmond - bass & cello


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