Megan Washington
Nightlight
(Spacebar/Newmarket)

Rating: ****

Young Brisbane vocalist Megan Washington’s first recording is an EP of six tracks including three originals for which she wrote lyrics. The CD opens with a refreshingly new take on the ‘Midnight Cowboy’ theme Everybody’s Talking: Washington’s ethereal voice – reminiscent of Katie Noonan’s – floats out against running figures on Chris Pickering’s guitar, fortified by Sean Foran of ‘Misinterpretato’fame on piano. Foran’s piano really shines throughout with ample time allowed for his fine intros and solos, good examples of which appear in ballad time on the Leonard Bernstein tune Some Other Time. Washington’s voice, slightly under-recorded occasionally, projects a fragile quality combined with expressive phrasing in both swinging numbers and ballads, and an ability to leap through the big intervals. Nightlight is a faster original piece opening with Foran’s quick flowing triplets under an airily expansive vocal line, before breaking into a solid groove. The album closes with a reworking of Radiohead’s No Surprises delivered as a pretty ballad, full of feeling, with unexpected chords underscoring another impressive Foran solo.

This review first appeared in The Weekend Australian and is published here with permission of the author.

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Hash Varsani is the owner of The Jazz Directory, a network of sites related to jazz, travel and everything else he loves. He also runs a selection of jazz related sites including Jazz Club Jury, a jazz club and festival review site. Check out his Google+ Profile, to see what else he's up to...probably setting up another website from one of his many passions.

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