Year: 2007
Record Label: Makin Waves Productions
Style: Contemporary Jazz
Review: Canadian singer Chantal Ranger is well known in the jazz and theatre scene of Montreal yet this jazz release marks a debut with her own label Makin Waves. Anchored in a bilingual cultural blend Ms Ranger’s heartfelt voice greatly soars downright throughout this tuneful work. She gleans superb contributions from guitarist and music producer, Sari Dajani. Ranger manages to gyrate into every song with a forceful manner. Some are in French, shading out dreamy-like attributes.
From “Downtown Clique” to “Désespérement Moi” Ranger stirs up finely skilled revisions of swagger and beat. She drives each set with a happy-scat approach providing a solid groove, or at times, a more insistent pulse that reach great heights. One of the highlights of the set is “Busy backsoon,” in which Ranger demonstrates a funky harmonic sensibility and a spare approach that makes every note count. The compositions are lyrical, swingy and melodic yet each one contains richness, unwinding in her singular voice and jazzy substance.
This album is definitely appealing, well achieved and heartily original. Ranger achieves the fusion of deep melody and soul guiding us into a fantastic contemporary jazz trip which is certainly wild-eyed and irrefutably groovy. It deserves an audience! No doubt we will be hearing more about and from Chantal Ranger in the future…
Tracks: Downtown Clique, Comme des Mouches, When the Sun Goes Down, It Doesn’t Bother Me, Busy backsooon, My Selfish Blues, Little Tragedies, Anything At All, Désespérement Moi
Artist's Website: http://www.chantalranger.com
Reviewed by:
Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez
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