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JAZZIZ - Fall 2011

Moonlight Serenades - Karrin Allyson explores the melancholy heart of bittersweet ballads.
By Michael Roberts

In an era when more and more music lovers download individual songs, many artists are eschewing the concept of the album.

But not Karrin Allyson. The singer sees ‘Round Midnight, her most recent release for the Concord label, as a batch of meaningful tunes that collectively make a statement.

“It’s a very late-night, heartbreak-kind of set,” she says. Her *husband, guitarist Rod Fleeman, echoed that sentiment, she relates, describing it as “a meal that needs to be savored, instead of just snacks.”

Early in her recording career, Allyson took a different approach. “The first, I’d say, four of my CDs were a variety - more like our shows, which include a lot of different things,” she notes. “We’d do everything you’ve heard us do on record - many versions of the blues, Brazilian stuff, a little bit of bebop, Great American Songbook stuff, pop stuff, French music. But when I do album projects now, I like to put a common thread through them. That helps me focus on some aspects of them, and it helps me learn, too.”

On ‘Round Midnight, Allyson plays all keyboard parts. It’s the first time she’s done so on an album since singing with Concord, prior to the release of I Didn’t Know About You in 1992. She describes the decision as an evolutionary process.

“When I was playing live gigs with other pianist, I’d always sit down during the set and do two or three [numbers on piano], and it seemed like I’d get a great response to those songs,” she points out.

I’m not a bebop chopsy piano player. I’m more of an accompanist for myself, and I think it must have felt like a really personal statement to the audience. And then my band got smaller; I’d have a guitarist, bass, drums and myself. So I was playing more piano by necessity and really digging it.”

When Allyson decided to explore this territory in the studio, she chose numbers that she’s always adored and then wrote arrangements for most of them. “It’s stuff that comes right out of me.” she says. “So it’s very personal in that regard, too.”

She put this method to the test by selecting some oft-covered compositions - not just jazz standards such as the gorgeous Thelonious Monk-penned title track and Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady,” but also genre-crossers like Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” On the former, she employed a Fleeman arrangement that she calls “beautifully understated,” in stark contrast to the historionic way it’s often performed. As for “Smile,” Allyson says, “I used to do that tune all the time like everyone else has done it - kind of bouncy. But when I wrote the arrangement, I remember coming at it from the top of the keyboard, and from the very bottom, and coming together with this very sad, very bittersweet feel.”

Allyson performs a similar act of transformation on Bill Evans’ “Turn Out the Stars,” using as a guide lyrics by Gene Lees with which she was unfamiliar until fairly recently. “People usually do it ‘up,’ “ she says, “But if you do it ‘down’ with those lyrics, which I love, it really becomes pretty profound.”

And then there’s “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” which she sings as a kind of tribute to everyone who’s facing tough times. That could be a large burden to bear, especially these days, but she doesn’t let it weigh her down. “When I sing that song, I think about how lucky I am to be able to do what I do - doing what I love for a living. A lot of folks don’t get to do that.

* Webmaster Correction: Karrin’s long time friend and guitarist is NOT her husband.