Album Review: Dreams Lost and Found from Halie Loren

Album:  Dreams Lost and Found
Artist:  Halie Loren
Label:  Nettwerk / Justin Time Records
Website:  https://halieloren.com/

Jazz vocalist Halie Loren approached her 2024 release, Dreams Lost and Found, focusing on songs that speak to the listener about "finding new visions for love and life, allowing some dreams to die to make space for new dreams to be born," according to the press release. 

Finding what she was looking in the classic folk pop repertoire and jazz vocals catalogs, Loren offers a delightful array of tunes that entice her audience to release entanglements of the past and leap into the present.  Well versed in soul pop, torchlight jazz, and coffeehouse folk, Loren provides her audience with an enthralling fare.

Jumping out at the listener is Loren's rendition of "C'est Le Printemps," written by Jean Sablon, Jean Geiringer, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein.  Her nuanced vocals make the lyrics come alive, revealing a charming animation in her delivery, which makes the listening experience special, as she sings the words in pristine French.  

Moving from steadfast romantic to deep introspection in her retweaking of Paul McCartney and John Lennon's hidden treasure "The Fool on the Hill," Loren's timbres switch to a folksy inflection, illustrating an earthy tone in her register, as she ruminates, "But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down / And the eyes in his head sees the world spinning / He sees it all."

Her reimagination of Mose Allison's classic tune “Stop This World," is fun and upbeat, a way to shake off the blues.  The silky fibers of her timbres illuminate Fred Coots and Samuel Lewis's ballad “For All We Know” with bossa nova glitter, then simmers to a torchlight blues aria through "All Night Long," as the sensual lilt of Loren's vocals nestle along the slow stride of the Morgan Moore's bass line and the tender trembles of Jim Doxas's drumbeats.  Taurey Butler's keys twinkle and flicker like a sparkling constellation, while Sam Kirmayer's guitar's chords pierce the melodic progression with soaring notes that glitter and blaze.

Oregon-based jazz singer-songwriter Halie Loren shares her distinguishable perspective on classic pop and jazz tunes.  Garnering national and international acclaim as a recording artist and live performer since her debut jazz album They Oughta Write a Song in 2009, Loren's is a welcoming addition to the household, making music that fits into one's lifestyle.

Musicians:
Taurey Butler - piano
Sam Kirmayer - guitar
Morgan Moore - bass
Jim Doxas - drums