Shirley Eikhard: Stay Open

SHIRLEY EIKHARD
STAY OPEN

SEM
Available at Jazzitude Distribution

Purchase Shirley Eikhard's CDs:

Stay Open
(SEM)

Track Listing: Take It to the Max*Stay Open*Coyote Highway*Surrendering*Style*Waltz for Tess*How Low Can You Go*Jake's Lament*Aren't We Clever*Seize the Moment*Stay Open (Instrumental)*The Touch of Evil

The Last Hurrah
(SEM)

Track Listing: Mister Charm*Always A Dream Away*Destined For Greater Things*The Joy of Life*Tomorrow Is A Lonely Place* Catherine's Theme*Walkin' In Your Daddy's Shoes*How the Shadow Grows*If I Had My Way*The Last Hurrah*(Bonus Track) Chansons Des Chiens

End of the Day
(SEM)

Track Listing: Some New Thrill*Song For Lesley*End of the Day*Detour Home*She's Back In Five*Sculpting A Masterpiece*Tiger, Gentle Tiger*The Hills of Hockley*What Was I Thinking?*End of the Day (Reprise)*Some New Thrill (Single Version)

Shirley Eikhard’s latest CD, Stay Open, edges slightly out of the straight jazz vocal territory she’s been exploring lately and offers some pop-tinged songs that demonstrate her well-honed songwriting skills and instrumental ability. Arranging, engineering, and performing all vocals and instruments on nine of the album’s twelve tracks, Eikhard is able to find the right sound and atmosphere for each of her compositions. From the comfortable “Take it to the Max” and the samba-inflected “Stay Open,” through the pure jazz of “How Low Can You Go” and the R&B of “The Touch of Evil” Eikhard has a real command of the breadth of modern musical styles. And her voice, dusky, sensual, and full of emotion, puts her well-crafted songs across perfectly. It all adds up to the perfect package: great songs, great arrangements, great voice, great performances.

“Take It to the Max” boasts a vocal line that often brings to mind another Canadian-born popular singer, Joni Mitchell. The arrangement is gorgeous contemporary pop, with Shirley providing some electric piano and guitar work that has the same comfortable perfection as many Steely Dan recordings. The bass line is really great as well, propelling the song along from one melodic highlight to the next. If you’ve never heard Shirley before, this song will sell you right away! “Stay Open” moves into jazzier territory, with Shirley offering her rich tones to a typically pretty melody and some great lyrics about an epiphany at twilight, when the mysteries of the universe seem almost ready to reveal themselves.

There are a lot of “big” themes on Stay Open, a lot of looking at the frailty of life and of beauty in this world, some commentary on the mess we humans have made of things, and acknowledgement that evil is real and exists. The sound of the album is wide open and highway bound, kind of sounding like the soundtrack for a cross-country car trip where there’s plenty of time for thought and the occasional drive through a big city reminds one of the way many people spend their brief time on this planet. “Coyote Highway” is a perfect example of the wide-screen feel of many of these tracks, and features some outstanding acoustic guitar work from Shirley.

If many of the tracks here aren’t exactly “jazz” numbers, Shirley’s singing is grounded in jazz phrasing and leaves no doubt about her overall inspiration. For example, “Surrendering” revolves around a static bass line accented by an acoustic guitar motif, some percussion fills, and tribal background vocals, but the singer’s phrasing is definitely that of a jazz-influenced singer, and it adds depth to the song. Lyrically, Shirley is at her best when tackling the big topics and sometimes less effective when taking on more obvious targets, as on the ode to empty consumerism, “Style.” For any other artist, this would be a fine song, but in Shirley’s world it is something of a weak link, though still a pleasant listening experience. It’s a minor quibble, though.

The middle of the CD offers a change-up in sound as Shirley presents three songs recorded with her live combo, consisting of pianist Mark Eisenman, bassist Pat Collins, drummer Barry Elmes, and guitarist Reg Schwager along with Kevin Turcotte on trumpet and Mike Murley on saxes. The organic combo sound lends a driving, live feel to “How Low Can You Go, “Jake’s Lament,” and the particularly well-arranged “Aren’t We Clever” (the punch line of which is “But not very wise”). “Jake’s Lament,” one of two instrumental tracks on the album seemingly dedicated to Shirley’s canine friends (the other is “Waltz for Tess,” and the entire CD is dedicated to “the memory of Cagney, a Buddha in feline form”) is especially striking, offering a showcase for Murley’s tenor sax work.

The album winds toward its conclusion with an instrumental version of the title track, which features Shirley’s signature harmonica work (heard at length on her excellent instrumental album End of the Day). It highlights the way that Shirley’s songs can stand as gorgeous melodic statements, without lyrics, despite the fact that she is also a strong lyric writer. The final track, however, is a real tour de force. “The Touch of Evil” starts with exclamations from a synthesized string section and some soulful guitar fills a la Curtis Mayfield before Shirley launches into a real R&B-style vocal that further emphasizes her flexibility. It sounds like a recording out of Philadelphia circa the late ‘60s or early ‘70s rather than the creation of a Canadian singer/songwriter working out of her home studio in Ontario.

Shirley Eikhard has now produced a string of three exceptional albums emphasizing her jazz influences without abandoning her pop songwriting skills. Jazzitude is proud to carry these titles through Jazzitude Distribution, and we strongly recommend that you check Shirley out. You won’t be disappointed.