Rachelle Ferrell - Individuality Can I Be Me

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Free Music Notes for Individuality Can I Be Me

Free Music Review: Ferrell's "Individuality" stands boldly alone
Hit: 5 Stars

Farrell has clearly had the revelation that less is more; the tracks are arranged sparsely and feel wide open, the perfect setting for her striking, lushly-chorded jazz/soul compositions. The instrumentation is a treat as well, and covers ground between 70's-flavored Rhodes keyboards and muted guitars to (gasp! in the new millenium, even!) real drums and acoustic piano. What's especially inviting is the jam-session feel that gives way to the impression that you're sitting in on a musician's party instead of hearing mere studio product. Further to her credit, Farrell wrote or co-wrote every track, and the variety of moods is astounding...there's slinky, backporch blues (the title track and "Sista"), elegant pop/soul ("I Forgive You," "I Gotta Go"), slick R&B ("Will You Remember Me?" and "Run to Me") and gently-grooving funk ("Satisfied"). For added bonuses, Johnathan Butler lends hand at writing and singing on "Gaia," an ode to Mother Earth that is musically sophisticated and lyrically touching, and Russ Barnes offers a top-notch vocal on the sultry duet "Reflections of My Heart."

But the crowning achievement is Farrell's use of her voice. There's a shockingly accurate three-octave jump (and a jump down, at that), seemingly effortless shifts in tone and projection, and, most strikingly, the take-no-prisoners experiments she indulges in on the funky "Why You Wanna Mess it All Up?," which include mind-boggling vibrato, noteless and wordless ad libs, and a run of notes sustained for twenty-eight seconds without taking a breath...one can only imagine what reckless vocal takes didn't even make the record.

In the end it becomes perfectly clear that "Individuality" couldn't possibly have a better title. Of course, it's a shame that we probably won't get the chance to witness any of these songs on pop radio as a much-needed breath of fresh air, but then again the beauty of the record lies in Rachelle Farrell's fearless assertion of innovation, trends be damned. She puts it best herself: "If you don't like it/it ain't got to have nothin' to do with you." You go, girl.

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