TROUBLE IN MIND (2002)
THE JAZZ RAG (Winter, 2007)
Manchester-born rock/R&B singer Elkie Brooks had
previously guested on Humphrey Lyttelton's 1975 album Take it From The Top. This is their first complete CD together featuring blues items from Ma Rainey to Dinah Washington, spanning Mary Lou Williams and Mose Allison, incorporating several popular songs and even including Bad Penny Blues with lyrics.
It is probably the blues and blues-related pieces, the
majority of the tracks, that are the most successful. Brooks' blues approaches are appropriately varied, gritty on Three Long Years, poignant on Trouble in Mind and commanding on Jelly Bean Blues.
She employs a light but telling swing on such non-blues material as Yesterdays and I Cried for You where a clear Billie Holiday influence is evident, less subtle and less finely nuanced than Lady Day perhaps, but echoing her phrasing and capturing
something of her bitter-sweet quality.
The Lyttelton Band accompany magnificently, supplying Basie-like riffs on Every Day I Have The Blues, injecting a flute counterpoint to If You're Goin'
To the City and contributing many fine solos. Lyttelton plays impressively as do pianist Ted Beament, multi-reedsman Jimmy Hastings, trombonist Pete Strange and saxophonist KathyStobart.
The CD is labelled as a 2007 release and the short sleeve notes (by Brooks and Lyttelton) refer to recording it 'earlier this year'. However as Pete Strange died in 2004 and Kathy Stobart was
replaced by Karen Sharp around the same time, the
album is at least three years old, but this is no detraction from the superb proceedings.
Chris Yates
HOT NEWS REVIEWS (Winter, 2007)
This Lyttelton/ Brooks collaboration is much more a joint venture. The album was first released in 2003 and has earned this very speedy reissue. The pair first met in the early sixties on a tour which included a young Les Dawson.
Ms Brooks delivers a carefully chosen programme, a lot of which could and did appear in Bessie Smith
and/or Billie Holiday's set-list. My spies in the Lyttelton camp tell me that she is an easy-going but extremely focused performer who always gives of her best.
Humph in his liner-notes avers that; "Elkie (sings)
the blues more authentically than any British singer.." and on this evidence it's easy to agree. The band provide highly sympathetic support, in part via Pete Strange's supple arrangements in the sub-Ellingtonian manner that has been a Lyttelton trademark since the late fifties. The participants' enthusiasm shines through.
John Day
BLOGGER NEWS NETWORK (October, 2007)
What do you get when you take classic Jazz musician Humphrey Lyttelton and add some great vocals by Elkie Brooks? The answer is… a great Jazz album. These giants of the genre play off each other to produce a very mellow and very accomplished sound.
Trouble In Mind is one of those albums that you can just lose yourself in, Humphrey Lyttelton is the grand master of the trumpet, and even though he may no longer be a spring chicken, he certainly knows his stuff! Elkie Brooks has the perfect voice for Jazz, her tone, pitch, and rhythm are perfect.
They are supported by Kathy Stobart (Tenor & Baritone Sax), Jimmy Hastings (Alto Sax, Clarinet and Flute), Pete Strange (Trombone), Ted Beament (Piano), and Adrian Macintosh (Drums). Mick Huston guests playing bass on I’m Gonna Lock My Heart.
This is an album that came about by chance and happenstance. Although Elkie and Humphrey have known each other for many years, but had never had the opportunity to record together. Finally we fans get to discover what a magic combination they are.
Simon Barrett
