Program: (all compositions by Valarie Morris except Goodbye Pork Pie Hat)

Around the Corner
A Minor Incident
Bilderdijk Straat
Five Movements
Sunny Side Up
Past Eleven
Scrambled Eggs
From the Peacock
Scrumptious
Place Pigalle
America's Legacy
Charles Mingus: Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Before the Storm
After the Storm

total time: 56:19
Released in 1999
Review date: April 2000

Label: Skyblue Productions
http://www.skyblueproductions.com/
P.O. Box 21584
El Sobrante, CA 94820-1584
USA
Phone: 510.222.8442
Email: valarie@skyblueproductions.com

Review by Henry Doktorski:

Valarie Morris (http://www.skyblueproductions.com/about/skyval.html) plays clarinet, saxophone, accordion, piano, and flute and received her M.A. in Music Composition from Mills College, where she studied with Anthony Braxton. She has composed a large body of music, ranging from solo works to quartets and quintets to works for symphonies. (Her Symphony of Light and Shadows was recently performed in February 1999 by the Marin Symphony.) In addition, her compositions have been aired on NPR's "All Things Considered", performed at Yoshi's in Oakland, and sponsored by 20th Century FORUM. Her music has been broadcast on radio in Bucuresti in Romania; London and Kingston, Ontario in Canada; Brussels and Gent in Belgium; Toulouse, France; Viitasaari, Finland; Freudenstadt, Baiersbronn, Munich, Nordspessart, Bayersbronn, and Osnabruck in Germany; and Cortina D'Ampezzo, Rome, South Tyrol, and Torino in Italy, as well as dozens and dozens of North American stations. Her CD Reeding Between the Lines has received excellent reviews by various jazz and online reviewers. (Check 'em out, that's why I put the link there!)

Yet, why was it so difficult to find a reviewer who would write something about Reeding for The Classical Free-Reed, Inc? We've had this CD a long time, maybe six months or more, and it keeps getting shuffled back and forth between our staff; nobody seems to want to tackle it. Finally, I decided that I have to write something. It's my duty and it's also not fair to keep Ms. Morris waiting in limbo.

I'm sure Ms. Morris has written some wonderful works (I wish I could have heard her Symphony of Light and Shadows), but I'm just not impressed by most of what I heard on this CD. Several pieces are played by saxophone quartet, such as Five Movements, Scrumptious, and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Some pieces are played by various combinations of accordions, from accordion and marimba (A Minor Incident), to accordion quartet with percussion (Before the Storm and After the Storm). Several pieces include voice, such as Bilderdijk Straat, Sunny Side Up, Scrambled Eggs and Place Pigalle. The styles range from modern-ish jazz to avant-garde polka (After the Storm) to Broadway (America's Legacy could have come from a Rogers and Hammerstein musical).

I don't mind listening to a CD which has tracks from unrelated and diverse styles. But it seems to me that this CD just doesn't get off the ground. I didn't feel the swing in Around the Corner and I couldn't wait until some of the tracks were finished. The chord progressions in Place Pigalle seem to ramble on without a center, like a lost child wandering far from home. Although I believe this was intentional, to paint a picture of a tourist wandering the streets of Paris, I just found it distracting.

In addition, I'm not convinced the performers put their best efforts into this CD. To me, it sounded as if they could have used more rehearsal. I couldn't hear the music flowing effortlessly and spontaneously. It dragged. I wasn't impressed with the vocal tracks, either. I got the feeling that the musicians were all Ms. Morris' friends and played for free (of course, there's nothing wrong with that), but unfortunately I felt that they all had various levels of expertise, some more (or less) than others.

Thankfully, there were tracks which I enjoyed. I felt Charles Mingus' Goodbye Pork Pie Hat was the best piece on the album. My second favorite piece was From the Peacock, a five-minute trio for accordion (played by Ron Borelli), contrabass and percussion, based on an ancient Hungarian tune. Beginning with the first tap on the chime and the accordion's subsequent entrance, I was interested. Very creative! Unlike most of the other pieces, this one held my attention. I felt the piece had something to say; it took me on a journey with a beginning, middle and end. The performers seemed more comfortable with this piece as well. I really thought this was a good piece.

Two other pieces deserve special mention: Sunny Side Up and Scrambled Eggs. I cracked up listening to these! I liked them so much, that I think all vocalists should learn them and sing them as a perfect encore following a serious classical voice recital. Very clever and funny change of pace. Who would write a song about love for eggs? Look at these lyrics. You've got to listen to the recording. It sounds so serious, but it's so funny!

Sunny side up, dear,
I like you sunny side up.
Oh, how you light up my morning
With your gold glow in my plate.
My heart is yours, dear.
Your roundness captivates me.
And when my fork touches your yolk,
I get all giddy inside.

Sunny side up, I want you!
Sunny side up, I need you!
There is no egg like you, believe me.
No egg moves quite like you.
No egg can take your place.