Album Review: Sweet Invitation from Beverley Church Hogan
Album: Sweet Invitation Artist: Beveley Church Hogan Label: Café Pacific Records Website: www.beverleychurchhogan.com Jazz vocalists like the sassy 92 year old Sheila Jordan and the peppy 86 year old Beverley Church Hogan never quite reach their prime. They go on and on, always resonating an opulence and loftiness in their vocals that is ageless. Hogan's sophomore effort Sweet Invitation is produced by Mark Winkler and arranged by John Proulx, and sees her imbuing emotion into the lyrics without being melodramatic. The balance she achieves gives the tracks a genuine human quality that enables audiences to relate to her instantly. Hogan applies the smokey texture of her timbres to a selection of romantic songs from the Great American Songbook like the slow, contemplative stride she uses on "Here's That Rainy Day," penned by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, as the rhumba sway shrouds her vocals in a soft light with the bright flicker of her voi...