Album Review: Looking For Light from Shiri Zorn and George Muscatello

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Album:  Looking For Light
Artists:  Shiri Zorn and George Muscatello
Label Name: Self-Released
Website: shirizorn.com
Facebook (artist page): https://www.facebook.com/shirizornvocalist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shirizornband
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCqGtlBdNSGUR-dDH_tYin2w
Bandcamp Link: https://shirizorn.bandcamp.com/album/into-another-land

Looking for the Light is the second offering from Israeli-born vocalist Shiri Zorn, accompanied by guitarist George Muscatello and Brazilian percussionist Mauricio Zottarelli.  The effort is a sequel to Zorn's debut album Into Another Land.  

Both albums share a penchant for warm aesthetics and a luxurious sonic landscape, bringing together various musical cultures from American torchsong to Latin smooth swing and Middle Eastern folklore.  The trio is a congregation of voice, guitar, and percussion, rising to the level of an inviting global luau or scintillating fiesta.

The Latin trimmings of "Nothing At All" complement Zorn's rhythmic voicing, snuggling against the samba beats.  The track flows into the ethereal and atmospheric soundscape of "Prayer," as Zorn's vocals float gracefully across the smooth cruising swells with Muscatello's strings interpolating exotic effects across the melodic progression, and the tentacles of Zottarelli's percussion embellish the tune with shimmery ripples.  Both arrangements are written by Zorn and Muscatello with lyrics that she added after the lockdowns of 2020.  

The lyrical themes for the original songs draw from Zorn's self-examination and understanding of the human condition, spurred by the closures due to COVID-19.  The ruminating texture and chanting tone of her voice incite a meditative state of mind that sweeps the listener into an astral-like sphere, like walking over the clouds.  The glossy sheen of her vocals glide smoothly, emanating warmth and a clarion vibration.

Zorn's approach transcends the norms of vocal jazz, integrating elements of sonic pop, ambient blues, and New Age folk.  Her smooth phrasing and meditative tone were nurtured at Israel’s leading school for the arts, and subsequently at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England, where she studied voice and piano.  She has a way of transporting her audience to a idyllic plane

Musicians:
Shiri Zorn - vocals
George Muscatello - guitar
Mauricio Zottarelli - percussion

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