My Time To Fly
It is a mystery why Boston-area songwriter, Harriet Goldberg is not on the national scene writing songs for Diana Krall and Michael Buble. Her sophisticated blend of romantic, urbane lyrics with infectious melodies set to swing, bossa nova, or jazz tempos present themselves as standards that could easily have been sung by Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughn, or Betty Carter. This is the kind of candle-lit jazz you want to have handy for uptown cocktail parties, entertaining dinner guests, or just curling up with that special someone by the fire.
"My Time To Fly" has first rate production values, stellar arrangements by Billy Novick, a stable of seasoned musicians, and exceptionally talented local jazz vocalists Krisanthi Pappas, Dane Vannatter, and Lynn Stein, all in top form.
Pappas is at her best ever, performing on six of the recording’s dozen cuts. Exhibiting a smokier, more sultry tone here than on her own recordings, she is appealing enough to become a national household name. She shines on "You Won’t Be Breaking My Heart," sinking her teeth into Goldberg’s searing lyrics with bold theatricality.
Vannatter doesn’t utter a false note on his four cuts, giving us velvety moments on "And There Is Love," and a warm buttery vibrato, worthy of Mel Torme comparisons, melting over the bittersweet lyrics of "From Time to Time."
But it is the songs themselves that shine brightest here, and when Vannatter sings "there’s no denying | I’m ready for this ride," you know it’s Goldberg’s time to fly.
