JACINTHA / “Danny Boy”

In acting, the suspension of our disbelief in a movie or a play depends on creating the world in which all the elements of that story exist. If the ‘world’ of that piece is not established and is not strong, the elements don't hold, the characters don't touch you. When I sing standards I want the world of that song to be fully known to me. If I inhabit it, the story I'm trying to tell and all the possible stories under that tells itself.

You cannot be a singer of slow songs without being influenced by Streisand. As a pre-teen in Singapore, I was obsessed both with her voice and her eyeliner. In her early work, the arrangements with full orchestra were so exciting that they kind of defined musicals from the movies for me. I listened to Joni Mitchell and learned that if the lyrics are rich, the singing can be almost blanched. Tell it like it is: that was exciting to me too. There was Stevie Wonder. There was Sergio Mendez. There was Karen Carpenter. Bits and bobs like Miriam Makeba when I was eleven. Again, the listening is a bit subliminal.

Recently I was listening to Stacy Kent. Her voice after four songs can produce in you a feeling of peace. It’s not a suggestion from the music. She can really induce it. In fact I'm more interested in what a vocalist is thinking than singing. And I want to hear it through very famous songs. With Lush Life, I wanted a very strong narrative without necessarily a very strong narrator; it helps that the songs match. As a new jazz singer you risk wiping yourself out because these songs have been sung before. But I was sure of my narratives. So you take a small song and in the telling of it, you make it smaller - a microcosm. There are people who'll say a song like Lush Life is not a small song, but to me the images are very specific - a time of day, the ennui that pervades it, and the unfolding of the story. —Jacintha

Her name is Jacintha Abisheganaden. Call her Jacintha. Singapore born, October 3, 1957. A Chinese mother who sang and played piano. A Sri Lankan father who was a classical and jazz guitarist. In her early teens she studied piano and voice. Her college years included a stint at Harvard studying creative writing. When she returned to Singapore she began her professional career in the theatre. And then, in her thirties, she signed to Groove Note Records and released a string of jazz albums. The bio does not tell us how she fell deeply in love with jazz, nor how she developed her proficiency as a jazz vocalist. Clearly she has a talent for subtly telling a story—microtones, deft pacing, a warm and graceful contralto. Her theatre background obviously helps. But beyond the apparent, there is also that elusive quality sometimes called soul, except she is of Asian heritage, not African. Nevertheless, she’s got it. Listen to her kill those bossa nova tunes. She’s not breaking new ground stylistically, but damn, she sure does make us appreciate the old territory. Her version of “Waters of March” is one of the finest I’ve ever heard, especially when you consider how she brings the lyrics to life, makes you understand the elusive allusions, delicately stringing the images together like a garland of pale purple orchids which she lays on us for our consideration. But what I really, really dig is what she does with the standards “Moon River” and “Danny Boy.” My ears and my producer’s instincts tell me that they recorded “Moon River” with piano accompaniment and then isolated Jaintha’s voice for the opening verses. If you listen closely with earphones you can hear the very, very faint sound of piano chords. And then Kei Akagi enters off-kilter, slightly dissonant, percussively striking the keys in what would seem to be a mood killer, but paaradoxically he enhances the meditative atmosphere, almost like a bracing chill on an Indian summer night. And then Jacintha and Kei duet, bringing together the soft flow of water (her voice) and the mind-altering lunar illumination that lets you both see and mis-see at night (Kei's piano). If you are going to do standards, this is what one should aim to achieve: a fascinating and complete re-working. As good as “Moon River” is, “Danny Boy” is better. For one thing, Jacintha raises the bar in her vocal treatment. She stretches a bit more, taking risks in the silence, hitting difficult high notes and holding them. Without going off pitch, she elongates notes that were already long tones. If you think it’s easy, try singing along with her. Again that’s the Miles Davis alumnus Kei Akagi on piano. Darek Oles is on bass and Larance Marable is on drums. This time though, the instrumental high note is sounded by tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards. Teddy Edwards is a bebop/hard bop stalwart, someone who was around at the creation of that style and who was of the significant second wave of horn men. He possesses a husky, warm tone that is the perfect complement to Jachinta’s alluring voice. Plus, Teddy is so eloquent, he sings his solo as though he were offering a dramatic monologue. "Danny Boy" is from the album Here's To Ben - a Vocal Tribute To Ben Webster. Jacintha's work on this album is the epitome of what used to be defined as cool jazz. Jacintha is not an originator of this style, a number of others preceded her. But she is no soul-less imitator. When she is “on,” as she clearly is on these examples, she offers an excellent example of the beauty of softly-voiced, albeit intense and emotionally gripping, cool jazz vocals. Carry on, my sister. Carry on with your beautifully bad, soft-singing self. —Kalamu ya Salaam           From the guts        I read Kalamu's description before I heard the music, and I assumed I was going to really like Jacintha's music. His description sounds like the kind of thing I'd like. Strangely, I don't. The thing is, Jacintha's voice and talent is as described. She has a beautiful voice and excellent control. I'm just not feeling it. When I listen to her sing, I have a sudden desire to hear mistakes, to hear something gritty and grimy and not quite so well-done. To hear something that sounds like it comes from the guts instead of the head. Jacintha makes me want to put on an Etta James record. (Although I should mention that the Teddy Edwards solo on "Danny Boy" is something else. And the piano solo on "Moon River" ain't bad either.) —Mtume ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 12:53 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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