In serious financial straits and one step ahead of an eviction notice, I’ve had to cut back (as much as I can!) my music buying so choosing between Shit Robot and Liza I went with Liza.
Her newbie is a stripped down, easy going, and wonderfully sung set of Standards. Some more standard than other.
With pianist Billy Stritch providing background, the story is Liza called him in the middle of the night ready to sing, she went to his home, left the recorder running and belted out this collection of songs. Liza told the Portland Press Herald “I hadn’t planned to make this record. They talked me into making it. Someone said, ‘Why don’t you sing like you do at parties? Nobody has ever heard you sing like that. It’s so intimate and personal.”
It is all this and on a standard like “The Lady Is A Tramp” “He’s A Tramp” and “All The Way” the inches of self control, of not belting it out, allows you to hear her voice so clearly it is a wonderful thing. The other instruments, added later, are OK but I prefer her when she is singing to just Billy’s piano.
A great album and you should get it.