Whitton – Rare Bird
Sultry, poppy, sweet, elegant all descriptions of Jaime Whitton lead singer of Whitton. Jamie has a voice that has many different qualities, so she is easily able to shift from easy flowing folk into more sultry jazz influences, a bit of Billie Holiday mixed with Melanie, with a dash of Dusty Springfield or Shelby Lynne thrown in and a trek into pop standards. There in lies the appeal of Whitton, the band are able to reach broader audiences by dipping into many different pools of music and handling all of them well.
Beginning with Turn off the Light, Whitton delivers a happy sounding pop ditty with twist and turns engaging the listener with each change of the vocals melody. Not to be outdone Rare Bird take on the air of sixties psychedelic folk rock, with a pop feel.
Until the End the next track starts as one of those sultry, blues, jazz influenced tracks that quickly bounce into a fun filled Tin Pan Alley pop track with its bouncing piano and horn arrangement, with a banjo making a suggestive appearance to cement the roots of the song
Monster is probably the most Billie Holiday influenced song, though Jaime uses whispers of Holidays’ style in different songs though out the CD.
No matter if it is the stark beginning of B Sting with invokes the memory of Billie Holiday but quickly shifts into a fun swing number that would make Minnie the Moocher proud. Or the
Follow up, New York with its Tin Pan Alley feel with vocals that bring back memories of sixties female artist.
Whitton mixes and blends styles that take listeners on journeys of musical styles and variations on those styles with very subtle use of instruments in each song. Like the trumpet on the end of New York.
The Tin Pan Alley style songwriting is rich in each song, with memories of great songs written by Carole King or Laura Nyro come to mind. The jazz influence is never falls back into a dated sound, instead propels the songs with its combination of styles into the future creating a new sound that is unique to Whitton.
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