MINDI ABAIR
Life Less Ordinary
GRP
Mindi Abair is a pop saxophonist who has a
good sound on her instrument (alto sax and a little soprano
sax) and good instincts when it comes to the groove. She
and collaborator/producer Matthew Hager continue to refine
a carefully crafted sound that seamlessly integrates home
recorded sessions by Abair and Hager with a core group that
includes Abair, Hager, Ricky Peterson, and Michael Landau
and guest contributions by the likes of Paulinha Da Costa,
Keb’ Mo’, Larry Klein, and Jamey Tate. While
this is certainly still the radio-friendly instrumental
pop that Abair has been offering on her previous two CDs,
there is increased emotional depth on Life Less Ordinary
that makes it a fine listen. As pop music, it’s well
produced, and well performed by a sensitive group of musicians.
As with any popular music album, programming
of tracks is very important, and Abair and Hager are aware
of this, programming the songs on Life Less Ordinary
to maximum effect. “Do You Miss Me?” certainly
gets things started lightly enough, with its vocal loop
by Abair weaving its way in and out of her sharp, focused
alto sax playing. It’s a very seductive sound and
it gets the listener in the door. “Long Ride Home”
locks into a more rock-oriented groove, and the only complaint
here is that I wanted the song structure to open up a bit
to allow Abair to really take off on some solo flights,
but that never quite happens. Abair’s rendition of
Rickie Lee Jones’ “It Must Be Love” isn’t
bad, but Abair’s vocal doesn’t add anything
to the familiar phrasing of the melody, and the song isn’t
well served by the annoying drum programming.
That misstep is soon forgotten, however, as
Abair gets to the meat of her program. “The Joint”
is a raunchy, bluesy number that is meant to recall the
gritty joints musicians play when they are coming up. This
joint isn’t quite that grungy, but there’s little
doubt that this number will be a strong one on Abair’s
upcoming tour. The next track, “Rain” is a very
pretty tune. Abair is proud of her ballad compositions,
feeling they offer her an opportunity to express herself
more deeply than the funkier, fun numbers. Next up is “True
Blue,” a slightly formulaic smooth jazz tune, and
again the drum programming was a bit uninteresting. The
tune “Slinky” is a dance-oriented number that
is again likely to be a popular live number. Abair plays
soprano sax on this one, and she sounds pretty good, her
tone full bodied and sounding like a saxophone rather than
some ornamental thing.
“Ordinary Love” is a pop music
concoction with a Latin beat and Abair doing a full-fledged
vocal. Her voice is a little thin here, and the song nothing
special. Abair closes with two very nice tracks that leave
a good impression in the listener’s mind. “Bloom”
is a lyrical statement with a programmed pop beat, but one
that fits well with the song’s overall sound. If this
were a vocal track by the pop diva of the moment, it would
surely be a hit. But Abair’s soaring sax work easily
takes the place of most of what pass for vocalists in the
pop world today. Many decry contemporary jazz on the basis
that it demeans the label jazz, but they ignore the fact
that it is essentially popular music that happens to be
instrumental. On that basis, Mindi Abair is a great success,
and has yet to fall prey to sloppiness or excess that many
in the genre do.
Mindi Abair will be performing in November
2006 on the Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Cruise and in
January 2007 on the Smooth Jazz Cruise.
