Jazz singer and three-time Grammy nominee Lorraine Feather started recording My Own Particular Life in Rochester, N.Y., in late 2019 -- before COVID-19 shut down the country. The original intent, according to her detailed liner notes, was “to find great joy on the other side of calamitous experiences, even in the midst of them.”
Most of the calamities Feather writes and sings about on this 10-track CD (recorded remotely) aren’t about the pandemic, though. Instead, “Music From the Ceiling” is a tender, sparse piece inspired by a restaurant meal with Feather’s ex-husband who suffers from early-onset dementia. “At one point during the meal,” she writes in the liners, “he looked up at the overhead speaker and asked why music was coming from the ceiling.” That said, “Are You Up” is a funny and charming account of a long-distance love affair in the COVID-19 era. Another oddball track is the revenge fantasy "Arbitrary Drawers."
Feather’s pleasant voice (frequently accompanied by piano, bass and strings) is not overly dramatic, and if you listen intently enough, you’ll hear elements of classic progressive rock in some of these arrangements. What I’m trying to say is this: Even if vocal jazz isn’t your thing, you’ll likely find something appealing here.
Track Listing:
1. My Own Particular Life
2. Music From the Ceiling
3. Everything Else Is Waiting
4. Are You Up?
5. A Hopeful Note
6. A Grand Invention
7. Sweet Little Creature
8. Arbitrary Drawers
9. Life Story
10. Jacket Weather
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