By Mark Saleski
You look at the song listing and see “Alfie,” “Pennies From Heaven,” “Shadow Of Your Smile,” and…”Smoke On The Water“?
What? Did I read that right?
Yes, and singer-guitarist KJ Denhert is not foolin’ around. Well, except for when she is.
Denhert refers to her music as “Urban Folk and Jazz,” which kind of makes sense if “urban” can be split into its constituent parts: funk and soul. In fact, let’s start right out with her pass through that war horse of classic rock, “Smoke On The Water.”
This is my favorite kind of cover, because it’s not just interpreted, it’s completely upended. Starting with some sparse percussion followed by scratchy funk guitar that sketches out that famous riff (which is said to have been borrowed from Astrud Gilberto, and I’ll be danged if it doesn’t sound an awful lot like “Maria Moita”!), the first verse launches the funk with Denhert’s tight acoustic guitar strum circled by the saxophone of Aaron Heick.
It’s a safe bet that this deal might not be to the liking of your average Deep Purple fan, but I just love the way it’s all turned around. Before the final funk jam, there’s even a little bridge done with a typewriter. Fun stuff.
Elsewhere on Album No. 9, Denhert’s satisfying guitar phrasing and (especially!) her gorgeous voice are put on display in a varied program that includes the aforementioned standards as well as a few thought-provoking originals.
As for the standards, these are the kind of selections that the listener can’t help but use in the attempt to affix the voice in the spectrum of known instruments. I say this (using a few more words than I meant to) because, until Album No. 9, I had never heard KJ’s voice. The opening pair of songs (“The Shadow Of Your Smile” into “Alfie”) features Denhert singing without her guitar, accompanied by piano. There have been many schmaltz-draped versions of “Alfie,” so many that I wasn’t sure I needed to hear the song again. But KJ shows just how much the song means to her, as the emotion radiates from her voice.
So far, the closest point of comparison is probably Cassandra Wilson. That is, until “Pennies From Heaven.” My ears thought, “Hmmm…that sounds familiar…” Yes, Denhert channels a little bit of Rickie Lee Jones. It’s a lilting, upbeat sort of delivery that’s quite endearing.
It’s also a characteristic present on the rest of Album No. 9, perhaps culminating with the startling, stark, and beautiful version of “Help.” I’ve heard that song countless times, but this particular arrangement accentuates not only her voice but the universal appeal the lyrics.
The nod to George Martin’s string arrangements (on later Beatles tracks) is a nice touch.
Denhert includes her own material as well, with “Chanson Baz Bar” (a tribute in French to her favorite locale, the island of St. Barthelemy), the reggae-fied “Choose Your Weapon,” and my favorite track: “Let It Go.” The songs finds KJ mixing soul and jazz to great effect. In the middle of the composition, Denhert steps out on electric guitar, delivering a succinct solo that acts as an introduction to a terrific bridge that surely must be a tribute to Steely Dan. All I know is that further research was required, with the volume increased by 50 percent.
Album No. 9 will be released on November 9th, 2010 on Motema Music. Prepare yourself, because KJ Denhert has more than enough talent to make sense of the great “Alfie”/”Smoke On The Water” juxtaposition.
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