(Vocal jazz) Annie Sellick - Street Of Dreams - 2009, MP3, 256 kbps

For certain, Annie Sellick's best quality as a singer is her ability to make audiences happy. An unusually engaging performer, she has won a large, devoted following and earned rave reviews, beginning with numerous "Best Jazz Artist" awards in the Nashville Media. A Nashville native, the last few years have taken her around the world and quite often to the west coast. Her third CD, "A Little Piece of Heaven" (2005 - Chalice Music Inc.) was recorded live in Los Angeles and features the Gerald Clayton Trio with special guest Bruce Forman, and arrangements by Shelly Berg. It is as free-spirited and full-of-playfulness as she is on-stage. She is working on an upcoming release that features the Gerald Clayton Trio and the Jeff Hamilton Trio, a project she and Jeff Hamilton are co-producing.
Annie's jazz journey began auspiciously when she sat in with guitarist Roland Gresham's group at a club near the college she attended. After her performance, the crowd rose to their feet cheering, and it was clear she had found her calling. After working a year with that trio, she expanded and moved back to her hometown. She honed her skills at the Nashville Jazz Workshop, where she was offered the first-ever NJW work/study (and she now occasionally teaches). Within a few years of her Nashville debut, she had become a mainstay at the major jazz venues, worked with all of her favorite jazz artists there (including Beegie Adair, Jeff Coffin, Bela Fleck and Rod McGaha), was profiled in every major Nashville paper, and gave a celebrated sold-out performance backed by the Nashville Symphony. She is a regular member of and vocalist for the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, with whom she has also recorded. Annie immediately caught Nashville's attention with her her regular jazz gigs, her ability to entertain, and her striking appearance - her waist-length dread-locks swinging against her evening gown. Her career in jazz has taken her through four CD's on her own label (one with renowned jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco), stardom in her hometown, and regular appearances in Atlanta, New York (where she also lived), Los Angeles, Germany and Montreal, including the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2005. In 2006, she toured briefly with Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing (as a sub for Roberta Gambarini). Sellick is also growing a fan-base in Japan, going twice a year to tour the jazz clubs in the major cities, and working with artists such as John DiMartino, David Hazeltine, Grant Stewart, and Eddie Higgins. Appreciation for her Nashville roots lead to another musical incarnation she calls "Annie and the Hot Club". In 2007, she and the Hot Club of Nashville (lead by master picker Richard Smith) released a guitar-driven swing album of all original material by local songwriter Tom Sturdevant. "Annie and the Hot Club" has been a favorite at European guitar festivals, including the Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Festival in Germany.
Annie Sellick's fans stay with her on the musical turns she takes from album to album. Whether it's straight-ahead piano trio, organ jazz or "Nashville" jazz, the common thread they love is her upbeat personality…not to mention collaborations with the finest musicians around.
"She's a comer" says Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times.

Annie Sellick has a vocal swagger that cannot be mistaken. Those who have heard her previous recordings know that this is nothing new. This confidence isn’t limited to Annie’s voice. A look of the eye, coupled with an assuring smile lends the audience a teasing hint of what’s in store for the evening.
In 2009, Annie Sellick released her 5th CD, Street of Dreams. The 11-track CD features two rhythm section sets – Gerald Clayton (piano), Dan Lutz (bass), and Kevin Kanner (drums) on half of the tunes, and Tamir Hendelman (piano), Christoph Luty (bass), and Jeff Hamilton (drums) on the other half.
The CD opens with Cloudburst, a thumping bass trot by Dan Lutz, as Annie enters with bouncing lyrics of going through life with a frown. A drumming pattern segues to an up-tempo pace. Annie’s lyrics are rapid, yet smooth; very close to a scatting pace. The rhythm section of Gerald’s Piano, Dan’s Bass, and Kevin’s drums are locked in with Annie’s vocals, as she passes the baton to the fluidity of Gerald Clayton’s piano solo, which is then followed by Kevin’s drums. The time change and scatting tempo represents new found joy of finding the one who makes you turn that frown upside down – that special someone who makes you happy. It also represents optimism for years of happiness to come. The end of the tune is as pronounced and definite as a “cloudburst”, making it a great metaphor, and appropriate title for this number.
Do it Again is romantically sneaky, with Annie taking a seductive vocal approach, accompanied by some skillful basswork by Christoph. The tune is cleanly executed, as the group drifts in and out of playful rhythm and time changes. Christoph’s bass, along with Jeff’s cymbal taps, really add to the sly feel of this enticing tune.
Annie demonstrates vocal dexterity in Tristeza, a samba number that finds her giving us some fluent Portuguese lyrics. The tempo is fun and infectious.
I know you oh so well slows things down, with Kevin’s brushes and Gerald’s piano setting the tempo and the mood, drawing a dimly-lit & cozy jazz stage to the mind’s eye. Annie softens her voice to an intoxicating tone as the delivery of her lyrics are mellow and deliberate.
In the title track, Annie sings of a place where we can find all things good: what is broken is fixed, and what is old is new again. All the while, the rhythm section offers a traditional and steady Jazz pattern, with Rod McGaha’s trumpet concurring to the vocal testimony as well. The end of this tune will actually leave you pining for the street of dreams.
The CD closes with Look Out for Love, a piano-driven, suspenseful tune. The rhyming pattern of the lyrics are cleverly crafted (She’ll get the marriage book out/she’ll pick the perfect nook out/her welcome has been shook out/look out, its love). Midway, Tamir carries a spirited piano solo, along with Christoph’s walking bass. Then Annie’s commanding scats ushers in Jeff’s moving drum solo. This is the perfect closing number, exhibiting everyone’s skill with a punctuated ending that leaves you wanting more.
Annie drives Street of Dreams through a journey of lively rhythms and seductive tempos. She shares with us an array of feelings: from the bubbly innocence of newfound love, to the sneaky playful romance of Do it Again, to the “get out and shake it” party mood of Mambo-Italiano. The vocal wit, spunk, and skill is easily detected in each of her tunes, and equally so by her supportive and talented rhythm group.

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