Is it possible that Julie Kelly has been recording for 40 years? Beginning in 1984 with the release of We’re On Our Way (Pausa Records), the West Coast-based singer has been releasing music regularly since, ringing up a total of seven releases, nine if we are to count the present Freedom Jazz Dance. This recording and Kelly’s last, Happy To Be (Jazzed Media, 2014) were produced by the much-in-demand Barbara Brighton (with recording date pianist Josh Nelson), who, most recently, produced Mark Winkler’s The Rules Don’t Apply (Café Pacific Records, 2023), Gary Brumburgh’s Full Circle (Café Pacific Records, 2022), and Beverley Church Hogan’s Can’t Get Out Of This Mood (Café Pacific Records, 2018). This artist-producer collaboration is as fertile as fortunate.
Kelly is a singer not allergic to the jazz standard but is choosy when selecting a program to record. On Freedom Jazz Dance, the title tune may be the most well-known of the standards and the most unique of the selections on the record. Kelly is mostly well-behaved with Gregory Porter’s “Take Me To The Alley,” Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain,” and Bob Dorough’s “Nothing Like You,” Then comes the Eddie Harris and Kelly constructs a song without words with a spoken message, funky and proudly robust. The singer arranged the piece as well as the Lightfoot selection. The remainder of the arrangements fell to pianist Nelson, who used a steady and conservative hand when envisioning the songs.
Kelly shows off her Portuguese in “A Ra,” “Al Otro Lado Del Rio,” and “Ponteio” and her clever song choice in the mashup of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” and Bill Withers's “Hello Like Before.” Kelly transforms the former into a gentle ballad given a Samba rhythm as it passes into the Withers’s tune, bringing together two songs that work well together. Kelly’s voice is seasoned and tempered into an attractive low alto, not unlike that of Rebecca Parris and Patti Wicks. Beautifully conversational, Freedom Jazz Dance conveys the wide perimeter of Kelly’s talent.