Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Powderfinger Promo)
One week ago, Indian jazz vocalist Radha Thomas released a new album entitled As I Sing, which is currently available through Amazon.com only for MP3 download. There are ten tracks with a heavy bias towards standards. On all of those tracks Thomas is accompanied only by a single guitar. However, four guitarists have contributed to the recording sessions: Reg Schwager, Pete McCann, Paul Meyers, and Tom Dempsey.
I am not familiar with any of those guitarists; but I have no trouble declaring that, collectively, they constitute the only reason for listening to this album. Thomas’ sense of pitch is so off-base that it almost makes me think that she took her vocal lessons from the late Darlene Edwards. (Those unfamiliar with that name would do well to consult the Wikipedia page that she shares with her husband Jonathan.)
Back in the days when I was a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I learned that, regardless of the career we pursued, we would inevitably have to review papers submitted for publication or for presentation at a conference. One of my colleagues was notorious for one of his one-sentence reviews: “This paper fills a well-needed gap!” Listening to As I Sing reminded me of that sentence and how relevant it could be, even beyond the boundaries of engineering and science.
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