Andrea Wolper - Wanderlust
Andrea Wolper - Wanderlust
Moonflower Music, 2024
Andrea Wolper does not waste studio time. She released her eponymous debut in 1998 following that with The Small Hours (Varisone Jazz, 2005. In 2011, Wolper released Parallel Lives (Jazzed Media), and took the next 13 years off, performing and teaching, returning to the studio to record Wanderlust, an aptly named recording considering her busy professional life recently.
Having gained her bona fides performing standards, she is also a noted composer, a role she applies to Wanderlust in total. In an even dozen selections, Wolper demonstrates her sharply individual composing and imaginative cover song choice. But it is more than this. Every once and a while, a recording comes along that reminds the listener of the difference between simply good and truly exceptional. What Wolper accomplishes here is an efficient and complete project reflecting what has been on her mind since her last studio stay. Factor in Wolper’s confident, mature singing and the result is music deeply wrought and revealed.
A high bar is set with the opening pair of tunes, Ray Charles’Light Out Of Darkness” and Wayne Carson’s “Dog Day Afternoon.” In addition to Wolper’s fine singing, she taps the talent of Charlie Burnham, whose violin lends an earthy pastoral flavor to the tunes, infusing just enough blues to season these songs without overwhelming them. Wolper shows off her Portuguese on her original “Sobe E Desce.” The singer’s adaptations intrigue and delight, like CaroleKing’s “Been To Canaan,” and Sting’s “I Burn For You,” the latter calling on Burnham’s fine violin and Michael TA Thompson’s shimmering cymbals work. Andrea Wolper’s artistry is a real treat and blessing. Let’s hope it is not another 13 years before we hear from it again.
I enjoyed this album, too. But I have to say that I missed the chant that ends the original version of "I Burn For You." I had to pull up a clip from the Bring On The Night film to scratch that itch.