CD Review
Abby & Norm Group
Melodic Miner’s Daughter
(A to Z Music AZCD2)
by Steve Mainwaring
Review date: June 2005
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award"
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by The Blues Foundation
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They’re almost too good. This group, led by Abby Aronson and her husband Norm Zocher, seem to succeed at everything they turn their hands to. Abby sings and she and Norm alternate on guitar and bass, with Bevan Manson on piano, Brooke Sofferman on drums, and on some tracks George Garzone on saxes. Their music is much nearer to modern jazz than blues and the contrast between the two different guitar styles keeps things interesting. If the album has a flaw it is that there is perhaps too much variety. The group can sound like Weather Report or the Pat Metheny group. A track I thought sounded very like Miles Davis of the late sixties or early seventies turned out to be called “Miles”. However, there is not really anything that one would identify as the Abby and Norm sound. They fail to imprint themselves on it, but everything is well arranged and played and the musicians have more chops than my local butcher. Abby is not the strongest singer in the world (and “My Funny Valentine” invites too many comparisons) but she carries a tune well and has an attractive trick of simultaneously scat-singing and soloing on bass. All the CD sounds good and I hope they make more, on which their own personalities might shine through more.
www.abbyandnorm.com
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