Reviews
CD Release Party at Scullers Jazz Club
September 30, 2004
On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Arlington resident Will McMillan and Cambridge resident Bobbi Carrey release their new CD “If I Loved You” at Scullers Jazz Club with Doug Hammer at the piano.
“The response to our sold-out Valentine’s show at Scullers last February was so strong,” said McMillan, “that we decided we were ready to record a CD.”
The songs on the new CD range from passionate to parental, romantic to raunchy and sacred to sarcastic, featuring beloved standards, such as “It Might As Well Be Spring” (Rodgers & Hammerstein) and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (Cole Porter), as well as contemporary gems, such as “And So It Goes” (Billy Joel), “The Little Things You Do Together” (Stephen Sondheim) and “I’ll Cover You” (Jonathan Larson).
“The music we have chosen is evocative of so many different places and times,” said Carrey. “Each song brings up very different memories and feelings depending on which point in one’s life one uses as a context. When I was a romantic teenager and a 21-year-old bride, Cole Porter’s song ‘True Love’ seemed so possible. Now I experience true love as being more elusive.”
“In a way it feels like this CD is a diary come to life” said Carrey. “It takes me back to being a child, being a mom, being married, being divorced, being a friend in need and a friend who’s needed.”
Added McMillan, “It’s been a surprisingly emotional undertaking, but that’s because we picked songs with which we strongly resonate.”
The CD does not focus exclusively on romantic love, however.
“Will has recorded a great song by Babbie Green about finding a dog at the pound,” said Carrey, “and I do a wonderful song by Amanda McBroom - who wrote ‘The Rose’ - called ‘The Portrait,’ about a woman remembering and longing for her mother.”
“There are so many facets of love and we want to deal with as many as we can,” said McMillan. “Love is not ‘either-or.’ It’s ‘both-and.’”
Scullers Jazz Club is at 400 Soldiers Field Road, Allston. Cost: $18 ($16 BACA members), show only: $53 dinner/show package. Tickets: 617-562-4111 or www.scullersjazz.com