One of many artist-released jazz CDs that should be getting more
exposure but probably isn’t. Beach has a nice relaxed keyboard style
and a pleasant voice on the vocal tracks. He leans toward a bossa nova
stance in many of the tracks, and his vocals on such as Jobim’s Water
to Drink are well-suited to his mild and unforced singing style. I was
reminded of Tania Maria’s livePlier treatment of this tune, but not
disappointed. The strictly instrumental Sudden Samba is a kick, with
some interesting developments during its nearly seven-minute length.
The title and opening tune begins with a nice melody expressed in
fifths. Jobim and Gilberto are among the bossa nova sources in
the tunes. Mention should be made of the extremely clean and impactful
sonics on this disc – as good as some SACDs I’ve been reviewing lately.
Tunes: Letting Go, Oakville Road, Vivo Sonhando, Water to Drink,
People, Sudden Samba, Nancy Maria, Dreams Deferred, She Smiled at Me,
Alice Annette, I Hear a Rhapsody, Lamento, Where is Love?, Only Trust
Your Heart, So Danco Samba. [www.billbeach.com]
– John Henry
