Jeremy Davenport’s Maybe In a Dream is his long-awaited new record of hopelessly romantic jazz. Mixing standards and solid originals, Davenport — one of New Orleans’ best-kept secrets — is beginning to prove what jazz musicians and industry people have known for years: Not only is he in the top group of New Orleans trumpet players like Terrence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton, but his singing, writing, and arranging skills are signs of his overall strong talent. Even though Davenport isn’t strictly speaking a New Orleans-style musician, he has learned a great deal from the New Orleans approach to entertainment.The St Louis-born Davenport’s first eponymous record (1996) received critical acclaim and contains possibly one of the very best versions of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” ever recorded.
Davenport launches the new Maybe In a Dream with a superlative, swinging version of the standard “Beautiful Friendship,” then follows with another standard, “I Thought About You.” Like Frank Sinatra’s greatest intimate “story” records, Davenport builds an entire dialogue of a romance in a kind of event calendar. This new CD contains six originals and five standards. Bassist Peter Washington and drummer Gregory Hutchinson provide solid rhythm, though they aren’t given a chance to solo. Solos fall to Davenport and his longtime pianist, Glenn Patscha. These kinds of romantic ballads don’t really have room for too much adornment, and so the trick to a record like this is balance. Too much solo takes away from the song’s story.
This record is successful in every way, really. Davenport’s Chet Baker-influenced trumpet sound (as well as vocals) are united quite well with consistently good ensemble playing. Davenport loves a standard Louis Armstrong approach of singing a quiet love story, then continuing it through his trumpet solo, then back to the lyrics. Davenport’s originals show wisdom and a beautiful sense of melody reminiscent of Nat King Cole. “Whatever Happened,” a dreamy romantic’s wistful lament on love, is especially significant in a time when romantic love and courtship seem scarce. The title song is another dreamy and very well arranged love song with soft interplay of drums, piano and vocals. Glen Patscha’s light comping behind the lyrics and the satisfying key changes give the song a pleasant momentum. The drifting and fine “Spirit of St Louis” is the only instrumental. Perhaps the most promising in terms of a deserved wider audience is a charming little love duet, “Let’s Leave.” Written by Ramsey Mclean and Davenport and featuring jazz superstar siren Diana Krall, this duet pays homage to the great man-woman interchanges of Ray Charles/Betty Carter on “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald’s “A Fine Romance.” The song is a private back-and-forth between lovers: “Let’s leave…Your place or mine?….Either one’s fine…I’ll pick up the tab…You flag a cab…Suddenly this place seems so small…I’ll loosen your tie…” Ironically, Krall’s whiskey-honey voice is a touch raspier and lower than Davenport’s, but the rainy day coziness of this very original song is not at all weakened.
A word on Glenn Patscha: this extremely talented and busy Canadian is generating a lot of his own attention these days with his forays into Brazilian sambas and New Orleans R&B. His recent Yockamo All-Stars record is one of the most fun of the year. If Davenport and Patscha ever become a corporation, hurry out and buy their stock!
