Sarah
Perotta | The Well
(independent release)
Reviewed
by Ross Rice
Let’s
say you’re a talented Ulster county singer songwriter, with
great piano chops and a batch of whimsically melodic tunes—ready
to record a new release. Sure, you can go down to the City, get
yourself in one of the many fine rooms down there with the NYC energy,
great players and killer Thai food within blocks. But those who
know recording around here will tell you: there’s no place
like home.
Sarah Perotta clearly knows what she has here. First, she got a
solid nucleus with guitarist Chris Lane’ and drummer John
Watson. Next, she added who else but the internationally ubiquitous
Tony Levin on bass, and legendary music guru Garth Hudson for some
accordion (also local talent Lisa Donald, Erica Quitzow, Barry Medenbach,
David Temple, and husband Jay Perotta). Then, recorded at Jimmy
Goodman’s Leopard Studio in Stone Ridge (Goodman engineered,
co-produced, and contributed vibraphone), and got it mixed by Malcolm
Burn (Neville Bros., Emmylou Harris) at his place in Kingston. All
this, within 30 miles of her front porch (or, if you will, 3 clicks
of the ruby slippers.) The results: a fresh, yet mature offering
of modern mid-tempo pop. Starting with “Out Of Grace,”
which sounds almost like Regina Spektor doing a Coldplay tune, Perotta’s
compressed piano reveals itself to be the harmonic backbone of The
Well, leading into a classic cascading Garth Hudson solo. “Before
the Fall” starts as a classical chamber piece, underscoring
the romantic elements of the lyrics, while guitarist Lane’
gets his large moment on “Steel.” Only the heartland-ey
“Country” misses the mark, the sentiment not well served
by the sound. The CD picks up where it left off afterwards and returns
to the spacious swirling piano-in-church sound by “Make Me
Real,” with more urgent drumming from Watson. At the CD’s
end, Hudson returns to join the band for the lovely gospel-ly coda
“Carry You Home,” which, as this CD can attest, isn’t
a bad place to be at all.
|
