Lee, Ranee - Seasons of Love (With Special Guest David Murray)

Tracks

		Track Name	Length
	1	Let The Flowers Grow
	2	Old Folks
	3	Early Autumn
	4	Summer Knows
	5	'Tis Autumn
	6	A Beautiful Sight
	7	Summer Me, Winter Me
	8	A Dream Wish
	9	My One And Only Love
	10	Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
	11	Everything Must Change
	12	Seasons of Love

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Information/Write-up

Liner Notes:
Many of my favorite musical discoveries have been made in public, with thousands listening in. Ranee Lee was one.

Sure, I knew the name from jazz festivals and such, but I didn't know the voice - the magic - until one afternoon my program unit stuck a new CD into the player.

Hello, I thought, this is something. Looking back now, from her Justin Time debut I can say this magnificent singer's craft has only gotten better with each release.

The recording was made in Hollywood this time, at Capitol Studios, the big building that looks like a giant stack of platters. It’s been the site of recordings that defined a whole age of music-making, with fabulous singers - Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee and countless others.

It's a labor of love from all: David Murray's tenor sax on four exquisite tracks; Tilden Webb's fine piano, first heard with Ranee Lee on You Must Believe In Swing, the rhythm of drummer Jeff Hamilton, and John Clayton's bass - as solid as it was with another Justin Time alumnus, Diana Krall, on her debut disc.

As always, guitarist long time musical and personal colleague Richard Ring holds it all together with seamless ease. You couldn't find better for love or money. Ranee Lee's Seasons Of Love (her sixth recording) is a dozen different definitions of the perfect ballad: the songs, the singing, the setting and the sound, not to mention the support and the solos.

Run back to the beginning with me for a moment The rocking "Live At The Bijou", from 1984, found Ranee Lee in funkier form, but even when she swings - and she swings mightily when she sets her mind to it - somehow, she still finds the basic essence of balladry in all she does. The wonderful Deep Song disc, with Oliver Jones and Milt Hinton, set out the premise: Ranee Lee is the consummate balladeer, and while she's been influenced by many she owes nothing to anyone. Unlike a lot of others, when Ranee Lee does a tribute (to Billie Holiday, for example, on Deep Song) it's a tribute, not a Xerox.

Then came the marvelous Musicals album with its fire spark "Jellicle Cats" and a spectacular "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," laced with only Red Mitchell's bass and Richard Ring's guitar - an extraordinary achievement. Ladies, line up for lessons on how to do Evita. Yes, all of you!

More personal was I Thought About You with a charming section of singing to the children - and an absolute killer "Surrey With The Fringe On Top:" If they'd done "Oklahoma" that way in the early 60s, I might have stayed with the Medicine Hat Musical Theater.

Then came last year's You Must Believe In Swing, Gibraltar-solid with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen effortless swing all the way, and, until today, my favorite Ranee Lee disc.
Seasons starts with "Let The Flowers Grow," one of those late night songs: intimate sophisticated, spun out in long, lazy phrases by a dream-voice. Ranee also delivers the sultriest "The Summer Knows" that I know of. "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" has been a favorite for four decades or better (Tilden Webb is sublime here).
The title track contains one of Richard Ring's most sensational and, as always, understated solos.

In a world full of spice girls and one-hit wonders, it's wonderful to hear a woman singing grown-up love songs. Joining Ranee Lee here is a true jazz ensemble with a common vision - to make fine music. A mellower session would be hard to imagine.

Dig out the `63 port, light the fire, set a cat on your lap and someone you like a lot beside you, and listen to the Seasons a la Ranee.

A lot of music, a lot of singers cross my audio threshold - three hours a day, five days a week, twelve years and counting. Most slide right by. A small handful kick in and stay - in the mind, where a song rolls around with you for days on end. And in the soul, where it simply satisfies.

If you're just getting to know Ranee Lee, you're in for a treat. Some of these songs are on my personal top ten. If she'd included "on Green Dolphin Street" I'd be completely content.

As it is I'm only ecstatic!
-Jurgen Gothe

Jurgen Gothe hosts DiscDrive on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio 2, each weekday afternoon, 3 to 6, coast to coast, and spends the rest of his time writing about food and wine.

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