Posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 at 12:00 pm
“Inga Swearingen’s melodies unfold like Virginia Woolf’s best sentences, patiently building to an expected climax before transcending it like a sweet exhalation of air.” – American Songwriter (April 2010)
JazzTimes’ Critics Picks 2009 for new releases (Don Heckman, jazz critic for Los Angeles Times)
JazzTimes’ review (April 2010): Working in piano-less settings, bathed in gentle strings, Swearingen includes a handful of clever covers — “Heart and Soul,” Lennon & McCartney’s “Blackbird”, “Skylark,” “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” — and closes with an egalitarian ode to contentment based on Emily Dickinson’s “Ample.” Swearingen’s own compositions are equally affecting, particularly the examination of growing romantic satisfaction at the heart of “Two Trees,” and the likening of shared rehabilitation to the rebuilding of a crumbling home in “Brick by Brick,” a theme gorgeously reinforced by the coiling of Inga’s voice with that of her kid sister Britta.
“She has the knack for making even complicated musical trajectories sound natural and flowing.” – Josef Woodard, jazz critic for Rolling Stone, Down Beat, JazzTimes and Jazziz.
Inga Swearingen’s third album First Rain, mixes the beautiful homegrown sounds of folk and soulful jazz, created from an amazing collaboration with some great musicians: electric & acoustic guitar wunderkinds Jeff Miley and Larry Koonse, stand-up bassists Darek Oles and Dylan Johnson, percussionists Brian Kilgore and Darrell Voss, and my wonderful sister Britta singing harmonies.
With beautiful string overlays by Ken Hustad and Brynn Albanese and engineers Chris Roberston (Blue Universe Recording) and Nolan Shaheed (No-Sound Studios) to capture the perfect sounds, First Rain is a personal stamp on jazz standards and bossa nova grooves with folk interpretations.
Listen to Brick by Brick
Winner of the New Times’ 2010 Best Jazz Song and Best Overall Song
