THE DREAM’S ON ME
A new CD by Stacy Looman
What do Duke Ellington, Carole King, Johnny Mercer, Sergio Mendes and Cole Porter have in common? STACY LOOMAN! With a fresh, vigorous approach to standard popular songs like “Love for Sale”, “Body and Soul” and more contemporary songs like “Don’t Bring Me Down”, “Dindi” or “So Many Stars” THE DREAM’S ON ME is a unique CD full of fun and great musicianship. Ms. Looman is that rare talent that can sing adroitly in numerous musical genres. Her vocals burst forth with energy and a spicy edge that reflect her rhythm & blues roots. For her debut CD, she has assembled an outstanding group of musicians from Greensboro, NC and San Francisco, CA and is quite generous with solo space for musical improvisation.
“Love for Sale” is the opener and it kicks out an up-tempo with some great guitar and organ work by Barry Webb and a swingin’ harmonica by Carter Minor. Stacy treats songs like “Body and Soul”, “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “So Many Stars” quite differently than the originals. With “Body and Soul”, a popular ballad from the 1930s and recorded hundreds of times at a relatively slow tempo, she picks up the pace with a Latin beat and there’s some nice vibe and guitar work present. With “Come Rain or Come Shine”, she belts out a pure, swinging, soulful interpretation and “Angel Eyes” has some fine interplay with the guitar, percussion and sax. With the title song “This Time The Dream’s On Me” we experience a relatively slow, soulful tempo with nice solos from the rhythm section, but the real treat on this CD is her version of “So Many Stars” originally recorded by Sergio Mendes. After listening to this song, many will conclude that this rendition is more interesting than the original. Rather than just hearing the words as pleasant vocals, we are persuaded to think about the meaning of the words which, of course, is up to individual interpretation: “The dawn is filled with dreams…so many dreams…which one is mine” - Stacy is both romantic and philosophic and has given us swinging and soulful music with clarity of voice throughout. She has used strong, creative musicians that balance her powerful voice and has created a unique and passionate recording, especially with the frequent use of the aforementioned harmonica play of Carter Minor. If you can beg, borrow or buy this CD, you will hear some great jazz both original and satisfying.
Malcolm G. Moore, Jr.
Piedmont Jazz Alliance
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A portion of proceeds from the sale of each CD will be donated to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (bestfriends.org), Physicians for Responsible Medicine, (pcrm.com), SPCA of the Triad.com and United Animal Coalition.org, in support of their efforts to help animals in need.
