Next Year’s Song Review

by Anne Carlini
Exclusive Magazine - CD Reviews

For those not in the know, to hear CeCe Gable sing is to encounter pure jazz.

A late bloomer whose early passion for dance was eventually eclipsed by the lure of jazz, she has spent the past three decades honing her craft and establishing herself as a sincere storyteller adept at honoring a lyric and elevating every number she inhabits.

Since first taking to the studio at the dawn of the new millennium, CeCe has gone on to develop a body of work that speaks volumes about integrity and openness. bassist and producer Harvie S, highlighting that fact, sums her up with complimentary concision: She is an honest singer.

1. Next Year’s Song
2. No Moon At All
3. Two For The Road
4. Just One Of Those Things
5. Like A Lover (O Cantador)
6. I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life
7. The Last Goodbye
8. My Romance
9. Moments Like This
10. Come Rain Or Come Shine
11. From Me To You

This dulcetly orchestrated, almost seductively breathy title track Next Year’s Song and the gently perky, upbeat, riff-reinforced rhythms of No Moon At All and follows those up with the delicate balladry of Two For The Road, the piano-imbed fervency of Just One Of Those Things and then we get the beautiful hipsway of Like A Lover (O Cantador).

Up next is one of my own personal favorites, CeCe’s sweepingly organic rendition of Nat King Cole’s I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life which is in turn backed by the stillness of piano combined with an almost haunting vocal within The Last Goodbye, the drum-led rhythms of My Romance, the laid back gossamer of Moments Like This, the album rounding out on a stunning, upright bass-enhanced rendition of Billie Holiday’s Come Rain Or Come Shine, closing on the quietly languishing, samba-inflected majesty of From Me To You.

With Next Year’s Song (due out April 22nd, 2022), CeCe sends a clear message about what she believes in and where she stands. Her choice of material us first-rate, reflecting an earnest appreciation for standards; the arrangements, courtesy of her bandmate/producer/sounding board, showcase a mature voice while sparkling in the light of sophistication and surprise; and the company that she keeps - Harvie, guitarist Roni Ben-Hur, pianist Alan Broadbent and drummer Matt Wilson - is second to none.

Taken together, that information denoted absolute quality, as I am sure you can all agree.

Musicians:
CeCe Gable, Vocals / Executive Producer
Alan Broadbent, Piano
Harvie S, Bass / Arranger / Producer
Roni Ben-Hur, Guitar
Matt Wilson, Drums