Amanda Tosoff – Where the Joy Is
Emilie-Claire Barlow; Allison Au; Amanda Tosoff; Jon Maharaj; Morgan Childs
Cellar Music CMF100125 (amandatosoff.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-joy-is)
A Marvelous Party
Duchess
Anzic Records (ink.anzicrecords.com/ANZ-0096)
The world is in dire need of cheering up, and two new albums have answered the call.
First is from composer and piano player, Amanda Tosoff, who is wrapping up her artful trilogy (which started with Words in 2016 and Earth Voices in 2021, the latter reviewed in these pages in Volume 26, Number 6, March 2021) with Where the Joy Is. Born out of post-pandemic existential angst, this album is essentially about finding happiness in new ways and in old comforts.
The number of personnel is substantially pared down from the ambitious Earth Voices, but when the roster is Tosoff (keys), Alison Au (sax), Jon Maharaj (bass), Morgan Childs (drums) and Emilie-Claire Barlow (vocals), who else do you need? Especially when the compositions demand a precise, agile unit, as Tosoff’s do. The album veers momentarily into standard territory with a gorgeous rendering of This Time the Dream’s on Me. There’s also a reprise from Earth Voices of Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum, but when the message is basically a plea for a powerful nation to stop being hostile towards its friends, it bears repeating, yes? Otherwise it’s all Tosoff’s well-crafted music, with lyrics by Jodi Proznick on a joyous ode to childhood, Little One. Two poems by Canadian writer Marjorie Pickthall were the source for Thoughts and Love Said which explore themes of learning to let go and allowing love and art to happen in their own time.
In a completely different vein is A Marvelous Party. The fourth release from New York-based, two-thirds Canadian group, Duchess, the album showcases the vocal trio’s tight harmonies (à la Andrews Sisters) and penchant for jokey, light-hearted performances (à la Rat Pack). The three singers--Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Sylianou--achieve a beautiful blend which necessitates a somewhat restrained approach. So there are no diva turns here, but plenty of solid, skilled vocalizing.
With a full band of rhythm players plus 5 horns (arranged by Oded Lev-Ari) the group swings its way through mostly post-World War 2-era hits made famous by other jokesters like Dick Van Dyke (Put on a Happy Face) and Dean Martin (Ain’t That a Kick in the Head). Peggy Lee’s bittersweet Is That All There Is? in particular strikes a chord with “If that’s all there is, my friends, then let’s keep dancing, let’s break out the booze and have a ball.” Indeed.
