The art of the torch song is as much a fabric of American music as that of folk music, or country & western, or jazz itself. Singer Dominique Eade and pianist Ran Blake – performing partners for decades – display their understanding of this notion on Roots & Byways, a duo album that pulls songs from unexpected sources alongside the Great American Songbook.
For example: the pair covers Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love For You,” giving an absolutely straightforward take that gets to the heart of the song’s romanticism. The duo also adds Hank Williams’ “Lost Highway” to the program, giving it a languid, almost hymn-like reading that argues for its inclusion in the GAS better than any Grammy or songwriting hall of fame award. They also raid the catalog of R&B songwriting veteran Leon Sylvers III for the gorgeous “I Remember,” originally performed by Leon’s family band the Sylvers. Eade and Blake even perform the folk standard “On Top of Old Smokey,” turning it into another American hymn.
Of course, the pair dips into the catalogs of songwriters and musicians you’d expect, though they often make choices you wouldn’t. Thus the obvious picks are substituted by Thelonious Monk’s “Pannonica,” Charles Mingus’ “Mendancity,” and Max Roach’s “Portrait.” Composers Michel Legrand, Mary Lou Williams, and the Gershwins contribute “What What Happens,” “What’s Your Story, Morning Glory” (so THAT’S where Oasis got the title), and “Who Cares.” Blake and Eade also pluck the tunes “Way Out There” from the songbook of singer Chris O’Connor and “Grey December” from the repertoire of Chet Baker.
In a jazz world where the same standards are held up as requirements over and over again, it’s nice to hear veterans eschew the obvious and make the musical argument for songs that haven’t been enshrined in the saloon singer’s Real Book. Roots & Byways gives a fresh shine to an American art form.
