By Paul de Barros | Published November 2021
Noble Force is a lovely name for a band and also nicely captures the strength of purpose Jazzmeia Horn brings to her third and most ambitious album to date. We already knew this free spirit with the willowy, knife-edged soprano could sing and scat like the dickens, but who knew she could also write big band arrangements that snap, crackle and groove? And while Dear Love suffers from a brief sludgy stretch and some overexuberant high notes, overall, Horn dials in this timely, uplifting spree. Her deft mix of the personal and political recalls Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone, with a modicum of modern hip-hop and spoken word.
Right from Jason Marshall’s opening bari riff on “I Feel You Near,” you know you’re in for a soulful, swinging ride, as Horn declaims atmospheric memories of an absent lover. “Be Perfect” is the first of three short tracks with rich, Hi-Lo’s-like vocal overdubs that introduce a longer song, the first being Lafayette Harris’ deliciously chromatic “He Could Be Perfect.” If the Don Raye standard “He’s My Guy,” executed with joyously rapid walking bass, makes you suspect Basie is in the room, all doubt vanishes with “Let Us (Take Our Time),” which revisits the excruciatingly sexy, slo-mo groove of “Li’l Darlin’.” “Back To Me” intros another fun finger-popper, “Lover Come Back To Me,” bringing Sarah Vaughan to mind.
The meandering “Money Can’t Buy Me Love” (little resemblance to the Beatles) and Yunie Mojica’s melodramatic character study “Nia” slow things down, but Dear Love regains momentum with the final pairing of vocal intro “Strive” and the inspirational “Strive (To Be),” which, with its brass fanfare and punchy theme, surely is a future showstopper. Ditto for the gorgeous ballad “Where We Are,” a churchy declaration of universal love. Church proper is where you go on “Judah Rise,” featuring a dramatic sermon by dramatic Horn’s percussively guttural Georgia pastor, Reverend E. J. Robinson, buoyed by a sweet reprise of Marshall’s bari.
A CD bonus track offers a Stax-style tag, “Where Is Freedom!?” featuring musical director Sullivan Fortner’s screaming organ, as the band leaves us dancing in the street.
Dear Love: I Feel You Near; Be Perfect; He Could Be Perfect; He’s My Guy; Let Us (Take Our Time); Back To Me; Lover Come Back To Me; Nia; Strive (Vocal Interlude); Strive (To Be); Where We Are; Judah Rise; Where Is Freedom? (bonus track). (62:08)
Personnel: Jazzmeia Horn, vocals, arrangements; Freddie Hendrix, Bruce Harris, Josh Evans, trumpet; Dion Tucker, Cory Wilcox, Max Seigel, trombone; Bruce Williams, alto saxophone; Keith Loftis, Anthony Ware, tenor saxophone; Jason Marshall, baritone saxophone; Keith Brown, piano; Sullivan Fortner, organ, musical director; Eric Wheeler, bass; Anwar Marshall, drums; Khalil Bell, percussion; Tia Allen, viola; Chiara Fasi, Eddie Findeisen, violin; Dara Hankins, cello; Reverend E.J. Robinson, spoken word (13).
Ordering Info: artistryofjazzhorn.com
