The forecast is for sunny and warm vocals with high levels of musicianship on vocalist Carla Van Blake’s new release, Land of Enchantment, and on Sunday, August 19, she will throw a launch party at The Mine Shaft in Madrid at 6:00 p.m. to celebrate its release.

Carla Van Blake
Land of Enchantment (indie)
A review
Carla Van Blake can’t help it: she’s got sunshine and warmth in her voice, and it lifts anything she sings into a comfortable space. Those qualities are front and center on her latest release, Land of Enchantment. It’s hard to believe this is her first jazz album, since she’s been jazzing for years. No less a jazz expert than trumpeter Bobby Shew anointed her with high praise when he first heard her several years ago: “The phrasing and everything was right, and she sings in tune, and she has the whole persona as a jazz singer,” he said.

She also has a gift for songwriting, as evidenced by the 10 originals on the album, most of which have an American Songbook character. Five of the tunes are love songs. “I Think I’ll Take a Chance,” which tells of the euphoric disorientation of diving into love, and “I Love Loving You,” a vulnerable, heart-on-sleeve confession, are particular standouts. Van Blake ventures into more topical subjects on “Your Lovely Skin,” a sultry song in Nina Simone territory that wishes the listener “peace in your lovely skin,” with lyrics by Nathan Weedmark, a poet and longtime friend of Van Blake’s; the edgy “Prayer for Sudan,” inspired by the forced conscription of children into militias; and “Pourquoi,” which chronicles the heartbreak, loneliness, and fear of homeless children. The title track could be called a love song for Van Blake’s adopted state of New Mexico. It opens and closes with “A Beautiful Spirit,” a new song written and performed in the traditional Navajo style by Ramone Yazzie, Sr., a Navajo friend of the vocalist. It also features a 5/4 beat that is taken from an Apache dance that Van Blake witnessed—a 5/4 that can be jazzed. The swinging “Habit Forming” closes the album with an upbeat catalog of addictive delights.

So we have good vocals, good tunes, and we’ll complete the hat trick with good arrangements and musicians. Van Blake chose to work with guitarist Steve Terwilliger, who is also her husband and the album’s producer, reed maestro Arlen Asher, bassist Andy Zadrozny, and drummer Pete Amahl. Those last three guys have been playing together for years, and their easy camaraderie lets the music flow. In addition, trumpeter Paul Gonzales and trombonist Phil Arnold contributed horn parts, arranged by Arnold, on “Habit Forming.”

Van Blake provided only a minimum of direction to these fellows, and that’s all they required to bring exactly what each song needed. On “Prayer for Sudan,” she told them she wanted to hear angry Fela Kuti with a groove, and they brought it. On the title track, she told Asher and Amahl, who have lived out “in the middle of nowhere,” she says, that she wanted to hear the wind that they hear, and the birds and the feel of the desert and the mountain. “And oh, boy, did they deliver,” she says. “They brought their flavor and their understanding and their love and appreciation for New Mexico into the music. It’s organic. It’s very organic.”

Special mention must be made of Asher’s sensitive contributions on a variety of saxophones, clarinets, and flutes. He wastes not one note and supports Van Blake and her songs with his signature liquid silk.

You can stream and buy the album or individual songs at carlavanblake.com/music, and the CD will be available at The Mine Shaft.

CD Release Party for Carla Van Blake’s
Land of Enchantment
Featuring Arlen Asher
with Steve Terwilliger, Andy Zadrozny, Pete Amahl, and friends
Sunday, August 19, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
The Mine Shaft
Madrid, New Mexico
505-473-0743

© 2018 Mel Minter