Sally Ford
Births, Deaths & Marriages
(Newmarket)
Rating: ***
Two components lift this Melbourne vocalist’s album above just another ballads/blues release. The arrangements are superior, incorporating outstanding players, and Sally Ford’s observantly wry lyrics are infused with street-smart candour.
Ford has a comprehensive background as a competent vocalist and saxophonist with various pop groups, but notably as a Latin exponent with Texicali Rose. In a departure from her recent past she uses backing groups of varying sizes and instrumentation: a ‘spooky organ’, occasional minimalist strings, and strong contributions from trombonist Sharon Barnett, guitarist James Black and saxophonist Paul Williamson.
The Marriage of Style sounds like any wedding celebration song until the sting in the last line, and a literary quality emerges in Déjà Vu: “(It) sounds so wistful and pensive, But what we have here, Is ungracious and restive.” Ford’s voice is pleasant enough and influences are mostly from R&B and funk, but if some of the melodies sound vaguely familiar, her lyrics are uniquely original.
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This review first appeared in The Weekend Australian and is republished with permission.
