'I feel like singin'' a little Jazz (Love's Silhouette - Pieces Of A Dream)

Member Name: sirg0508

Product:	Love's Silhouette - Pieces Of A Dream
Date:	22/02/05 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See op!

Disadvantages: I'm being honest when I say none!

Guess how I came across this album!? - Of course, through Eva Cassidy! It's taken a while to remember to write about any of these albums by Pieces of a Dream but I have finally got round to it!

Pieces of a Dream are a Philadelphia based Jazz band and I'm sure there will be very few people here that will have heard of them. They are made up of James Lloyd and Curtis Harmon but are joined with a lot of other musicians on this album such as Tracy Hamlin (Vocals), Eddie Baccus (Sax), Gerald Veasley (Bass) as well as a host of others. Back in the days when Eva was still here, she recorded 2 songs with the band but unfortunately they tried to make her into something she wasn't. She didn't really like that they were putting make-up on her and dressing her up so 'Have A Little Faith' and 'Goodbye Manhattan' were the only songs that were to be recorded.

When I read about these songs from Eva from her cousins web site, I was able to download music and I downloaded a few tracks by the band. I loved them! I had to search for a while to find their web site and noticed a link to join the mailing list and hopefully win a free CD and signed photographs from the band. I was taken to the record company web site (HeadsUp) and joined. I completely forgot about it but to my utter delight I won!! I couldn't believe it when the envelope came through the door and I pulled out the letter, the singed photos of the group and 'Loves Silhouette'.

I remember that day so well and it was such a good day! I immediately e-mailed Carlyta who works as the President of the group and she sent a reply thanking me for the e-mail because so few people have done this in the past!

The CD comes in a 3-fold cardboard box with all the details of each of the 14 tracks, who plays what and finally a page with Thank You's to all the people that helped them. James and Curtis also make their own special thanks, E.g. James: “Dan and Bill, you guys are Da Bomb! …My homeys at the 7th District Court of Appeals…” – they speak from their hearts!

Track Listing:

1. Turning It Up*
2. Love's Silhouette
3. Mission Possible
4. I Feel Like Singin'*
5. Tonight's the Night
6. Nice & Easy
7. Mystical Perception*
8. Pieceful Dreams
9. Savoir Faire
10. Enmascarada
11. Let's Roll
12. Remembrance (9/11/01)
13. Slither
14. My Funny Valentine*

* - Tracks with vocals.

I've added the * above because you might think, How can an album be so good if it doesn't say anything? My reaction would be: The songs with no vocals probably say more than those that do. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love 'I Feel like Singin' and My Funny Valentine (those are the two tracks with actual vocals – ‘Turning it up’ and ‘Mystical Perception’ only have a couple of words or 'la la la's'.

This album has really changed my love for music. There really is so much meaning behind each song – as you can see from the titles. As with other songs that might be more for males or females, be racist or have something against different religions, this one speaks to everyone. There is no division. Each track is very different. ‘Turning It up’ is a great opening track – lively and of course the instrumentals are fantastic. It contains mostly keyboard work with the added guitar and Sax. Tracy and James together create the vocals and although there aren’t many it sounds great.

Moving onto Loves Silhouette, this track is a little slower in tempo but everything you can imagine love to be. Again it contains mostly keyboard/engineering but the Sax plays a lot more with the guitar as well. With no vocals, I just imagine two people totally in love with each other. James wrote the track sever years earlier and when he played it to his family, they told him he had to re-do it for the album. His wife then named the track. Next is ‘Mission Possible’ and this is certainly not like the ‘Mission Impossible’ soundtrack. The Sax is a lot stronger compared to the first two tracks on the album. No vocals yet again but an upbeat track.

‘I Feel Like Singin’ is the first of the two fully vocalised tracks. This one is probably my favourite of the whole album. Tracy Hamlin is the main vocalist and she sings about music being a kind of love. It is one of the upbeat tracks on here. Curtis says about the song: “It’s a universal song that everybody can relate to”. The next track I really like is ‘Mystical Perception’. It was one of the very first I listened to when I got the CD so the one that hit me most. I hadn’t listened to much Jazz before so hearing this was showing me what I was missing out on. The track is very upbeat with a whole host of instruments – Keyboards, Drums, Bass, Guitar, Sax, Percussion and vocals again by Tracy and Joe but this is only one that goes ‘la la la’. When I’m listening to the tracks, you can’t hear each of the different instruments (or I can’t anyway!), they all just seem to merge into one amazing sound. ‘Tonight’s the Night’ is a great upbeat track with strong Keyboard music, which really makes this track. It is calming although upbeat and could be quite easy to swing along to (have to say I haven’t tried!). Going by the title you could probably guess what might happen and it is a really happy track – what you would expect from people in love! ‘Nice & Easy’ slows down the tempo again.

‘Pieceful Dreams’, ‘Enmascarada’ and ‘Let’s roll’ are both really claming tracks that could help you to drift off although they do have a little kick to them. I love the Sax playing from Eddie Baccus Jr. and James really sets it off with the high keyboard notes. ‘Slither’ and ‘Savoir Faire’ are another two of the more upbeat tracks. Lovely instrumentals, again with kick.

One track that some of you might be wondering about is ‘Remembrance (9/11/01). This is of course for that tragic day when so many lives were lost when the planes hit the Two Towers. By knowing what this track stands for it makes it very emotional. The track seems to me to be quite refreshing and not so slow and upsetting as other tracks dedicated to that day. The last track is a great ending to the album – My Funny Valentine. I know Chuck Brown, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan also sings this and for the younger readers that watch Friends, this is the song Janice sings on the tape for Chandler, which he gives to Monica for their anniversary. Love Tracy’s vocals for this track and she certainly makes a brilliant ending.

James has written almost all the tracks (except ‘Let’s Roll’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’). He is helped along by his partner Curtis as well as Michael Thornton, Gerard Gibbs, Teresa Y. Barron-Lloyd and Tony Pulzzi. Not forgetting of course Piecesjazz Publishing Inc. ASCAP. The Executive Producer is Dave Lowe.

I highly recommend this album from 2002. It managed to get the Best Contemporary Jazz album for 2003 so it really is that good! There are samples (not sure if they are full tracks) on the record companies web site (direct link): http://www.headsup.com/albums/3071.asp. You can also find out more about the album from the people involved as well as info the other albums available – Acquainted with the Night (2001) and No Assembly Required (2004). Acquainted with the Night was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the group – I didn’t even know about them until a few years ago!

Why is it a hybrid album (as shown on the picture)?: ‘James Lloyd says. “All of the keyboard and programming were done in my home studio. We played ‘live’ on the record, so it’s a hybrid album”.’

For more details about Pieces of a Dream themselves, please visit www.piecesjazz.com. There are links on both web sites to join the mailing list and hopefully win a free CD like I did!

If you are interested in buying it, you can find it at Amazon for £16.99 (OMG – That’s expensive!) or New from the marketplace from £9.99 (Ok a little more reasonable but you need to watch because they are shipped from the US and will cost more for Shipping + Postage!). I had mine for sale but no one bought it within the time so I’m keeping it!

Total Playing time: 1 hour heaven minutes – I mean 7 minutes!

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