Susan Krebs & The Local Outfit - Little Did I Dream
GreenGig Music, 2025
The Jazz Gardener. That is Susan Krebs’ moniker, her clever nickname. “Clever” is the key operative here. Over the past 30 years and 10 recordings, Krebs has shown a creative restlessness in her project concepts, band formats, and thematic direction. This has made for a rich and rewarding discography that reveals the many facets of its principal. Little Did I Dream results from the singer’s COVID-19 lockdown ruminations. It marks Krebs’ return to a more standard recital after her more carefully focused Chamber Band and Trio WoRK recordings.
Krebs’ current offering comprises eight total songs: two originals and six carefully curated standards. Krebs shows off her sharp sense of humor on originals “I Just Don’t Know” (written with pianist Rich Eames) a tome celebrating procrastination and leisure, and “You Bother Me,” a beautiful kiss-off to that pain-in-the-backside one can’t live without. These songs merge well with a dreamy piano-voice duet on the title piece and the sunny treatment of Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson’s “My Buddy.” Eames plays a friendly and receptive flavor of piano that complements Krebs regardless of the environment.
“The Very Thought of You” is a percussion master class featuring drummer/percussionist Scott Breadman and vibraphonist Jerry Kalaf. Breadman spreads the same craft over “I Remember You,” providing a tincture of the Middle East accented with Rob Lockart’s slippery soprano saxophone. Krebs’ informed voice is as appealing as ever in its honesty and authentic nature. Little Did I Dream is the singer’s love letter to the present, conceived in the past, and looking toward the future.
Discography
Susan Krebs, Jazz Gardener (Self-Produced, 1999)
The Susan Krebs Group, What Am I Here For (GreenGig Music, 2002)
Susan Krebs & The Soaring Sextet, Jazz Aviary (Self-Produced, 2007)
The Susan Krebs Band, Everything Must Change (GreenGig, 2011)
The Susan Krebs Chamber Band, Simple Gifts (Self-Produced, 2015)
Susan Krebs Chamber Band, Spring, Light Out of Darkness (Self-Produced, 2017)
Trio WoRK, Trio WoRK (GreenGig Music, 2018)
Susan Krebs and Mixed Emotions, Daybreak (GreenGig, 2021)
Trio WoRK, dancing in the dark (GreenGig, 2022)
Susan Krebs & The Local Outfit, Little Did I Dream (GreenGig Music, 2025)