CD Review – Solamente

Radio CD101, Ricki C.: June 8, 2009

Carmen Lundy / Solamente

Sometimes in the too-easy haze of these early-21st century days I fear something has gotten lost in music. Sometimes I think in all the frittering & Twittering we’ve lost sight of the beating heart that should reside at the center of music. Sometimes I believe that in the midst of ProTools & American Idols & YouTube culture something has been lost. Call it feeling, call it artistry, maybe even call it soul: Which brings us to Carmen Lundy.

Ms. Lundy’s new album, Solamente, is a tour-de-force heart & soul effort that brings the focus of music right back to where it belongs, brings it right back to the song. No computer-generated beats here. No market-research dictated lyric themes. No producers’ playground where more attention is paid to potential ringtones than to songs that cut to the bone.

I want to call the music of Carmen Lundy jazz-inflected pop, but really it’s more pop-inflected jazz. The pop music of today never ranges as far afield as the tunes of Ms. Lundy. Stand-out cuts include “The Out Crowd,” “When Lights Are Low,“ and the stunning “Move On.” In “Move On” Ms. Lundy speaks her mind, weaves out lines & observations – “Why am I livin’ in shame, playin’ the game, lookin’ for fame in America?” “I’m tired of runnin’ a race with the color of my face in America,” and “Why are the preachers, crooked & straight, ‘causin’ the hate & disgrace in America?” Simultaneously her electric piano tolls out a death knell for an outdated American dream. Insightful, defiant lyrics paired with a great tune. How long has it been since we’ve had these? What if musical & lyric giants like Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder had to get a record deal in these days of “shorties, rides, humps & blunts?” Would they make the cut?

The great expatriate singer-songwriter Elliott Murphy once wrote, “I could analyze each & every song but that’s what took all the fun out of chemistry.” I agree wholeheartedly. I’m not going to bore you with details. I’m just going to tell you that Carmen Lundy plays every note of music – every piano line, every evocative bass run, every oh-so-sympathetic beat of the drums – on Solamente by herself. In less masterful hands this solo approach could become an egotistical train wreck. In the assured hands of Ms. Lundy it reveals itself as a thing of great beauty.

Ricki C.

guest co-host Invisible Hits Hour

radio station CD101, Columbus, Ohio