Label: unsigned

Producer: Rob Hewes and Sandy Foster

Release Date: 2005

Sandy Foster has remarked 'Life is too short to be marooned'. The fact that we can all be ostracized into oblivion and segregated from relationships by the busyness of our lives is part of the main thinking behind the title track but this is an album that is everything BUT marooned. It is the consequence of being gifted vocally, musically, and creatively and Sandy Foster IS remarkably and irretrievably gifted! I'd like you to relax for a moment.. and take in what I am telling you... you are about to read a review of one of the most remarkable albums ever to have been born in Canada... reading takes patience... listening takes you on a heart and soul meandering journey... in the company of Sandy Foster!

T'aint what you do opens this remarkable album and the first thing that happens is a case of shock. That semi-acoustic guitar and finger glided piano compliments Sandy's jazzy vocal to a tee and you're wondering how it is that the girl isn't a guest on just about everyone's favourite jazz presentation around the world. Move over girls... Sandy's on the airstrip about to take off on a much anticipated world tour!

When we get to the amazing songwriting epitaph that's Marooned we are treated to a rather extraordinary writing talent that could never be pushed aside. The song opens with some lovely upright bass and Sandy's vocals are complimented with an equally lovely flute that's both skillfully conceived and skillfully played. What's particularly striking about this song is the cleverness in the lyrical emphasis that Sandy delivers. You see, not many jazz singers can get away with this without being called 'great' jazz singers... and Sandy is one of the 'greats'. As if this wasn't enough of a testimony to Sandy Foster's remarkable vocal, then Play a song for you will almost certainly do the trick! The delightfully candlelit opening mood is challenged by the vocal prowess that keeps you mesmerized.. what a girl! Insatiably appetizing piano and emotion driven vocals make this magnificent song shine and I would absolutely LOVE to see these guys live... come to think of it... they're only a few hours away and so I'll get that sorted for sure!

Do I worry about you? With inspiration sprung forth on a plane trip... this song is an absolute classic of the highest magnitude ... beautiful vocals... astonishing bass playing and drum, guitar, and piano work that deserves an award for just being brilliantly executed.. it's all here in abundance. Then there's the song itself... I mean... wouldn't you love to have been responsible for writing these lyrics??? Of course you would!

Thankful Well I'm thankful that I have the pleasure of writing this review and oh dear me what a pleasure this song is! I could swear there's a hitherto unexplored part of our imagination that has wings and an undercarriage! This song took me flying all over the place and there wasn't a hint of engines or fuel... it all happens on the beautiful vibrato and sustain that Sandy Foster has acquired, developed, and so obviously mastered! Keep your eye out for those lovely piano and bass inserts... a little jazz tapestry got wove in the composition here and it's as colourful and as vibrant as any jazz tapestry you could ever hope to find!

This is the bit where the breeze of writer's anxiety comes... you see, to get into writing a review 'properly' you have to listen to the album about three times... you have to try very hard to engage the performer's world and provide a bridge to the world of the intended audience. The thing is.. three times is NOT enough... it would not be just... it would not be fair! However, on first listening.. You speak surpasses everything you ever expected to be made possible in female vocalized jazz! On third play... you are skillfully observant and it's great when you realize that your thoughts and perceptions were very much confirmed on first listening. You speak is a work of absolute class! Electrifyingly beautiful singing, and undeniably brilliant musicianship is what this track really is... it's ok.. you go on now and play it however many times you like... and you will!

Cranberry jazz opens with a nice tight intro that leads into another of Sandy's songs that makes me wish she lived next door... then I could say 'How the %^&* did you manage to sing like that?!!!". I haven't tapped my toes this much in ages! Watchout for the superb guitar solo that makes you want to rush out and buy a dead expensive Gibson semi or whatever it is that can have you make numerous attempts at learning the delightful riffs. A superb song... very New York Jazz... very Sandy Foster!

Meet me here is perhaps one of the best things that happened to me this year after pressing the play button! The magic in Sandy Foster's voice continues to enthrall and the lyrics are so well crafted and THEN Dave Babcock arrives and you almost want to dwindle into nothingness as his incredible vocal sends your sense up the wall, around the floor, and behind the radiators with sheer disbelief! The production must have been an absolute joy to work on and who knows what was going through the minds between the headphones during the mixdown!

It all falls on me has little touches of some of the greatest jazz singers in the world all in one mouth... I guess it really does all fall on Sandy Foster! Piano work on this track is magnificent... but then the band have coped with the enormity of their skills and tasks so well throughout this entire album that it leaves you in a state of complete and utter wonderment! What a band... what a track!

Subject to the whether is such a clever song with it's metaphoricalisms. I have to say it again... wouldn't you love to have been responsible for writing this song? AND wouldn't you love to have a voice like that! Careful attention should be paid here to what happens between the vocal parts and the guitar and piano parts.. it's almost like the instruments, including the vocal, were born on the same day, at the same time, to the same mother! Mention should also be made in referencing the bass and drums also.. you see any bass player will tell you that 'working out' with a drummer requires an attention to detail that takes time to master. These guys have long since passed the point of no return and, like the guitar and piano -players, have truly mastered their craft to the 'nth degree!

Quiet nights of quiet stars . Now it gets a bit sad knowing that this is the last track on the album... when the joy has unfolded to where it's at! It's a very dreamy jazz song that's performed and produced to the kind of standard you'd expect to line up for to witness at the Royal Albert Hall. Again, we have a completely professional package to unwrap when listening to this song and it's all contained in the instruments and the voice that were naturally put together to astonish the ears and the heart!

All the great Canadian jazz players and singers in this genre should take note of what exactly has been accomplished here... pure unadulterated brilliance in performance, in composition, and in production. The rest of the world needs to simply applaud and give the girl a standing ovation for a job well done!

 

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