It was my birthday yesterday. “Bully for you,” you say. “So what?” I’ll tell you what: My gift to myself was some new headphones. Not insanely expensive, but certainly a jump up from the hundred-dollar into the hundreds-of-dollars range. And it has the potential to be bad or good news for the folks who make the sort of music we review here.
When you can hear not only a drummer’s every brushstroke but also the snares quivering rhythmically in response to a thumping double bass—something which made me yelp with joy—there’s nowhere for mediocre musicianship or poor production to hide. Fortunately, my audio upgrade only benefits Risa Branch, whose latest album sounds superb through a high-quality headset with huge dynamic range and excellent frequency response...
I Thought About You has been with us since the heady pre-pandemic days of 2019, but has only just reached the top of our tall review pile. It features twelve tracks of mostly well-trodden covers from a one-time R&B (Beyoncé, not Etta James) singer who has, with her sophomore solo album, come “home” to vintage vocal jazz and blues.
Rather carving a little nook in one corner of the idiom, Branch has occupied it wholesale. From second line parade music to lounge crooning via hot jazz, Chicago blues, and dancing swing, she tackles it all. Fortunately her voice is both powerful and agile, with impeccable
