Dreamwalker
Laura Bird
Independent
2000
11 tracks
Many listeners will enjoy Dreamwalker, a selection of richly orchestrated folkish songs performed by Laura Bird and a group of friends she calls The Fly By Night Orchestra. The musicianship here is superb and the production is second to none. It's clear that a great deal of care and planning have gone into making this release the polished gem that it has turned out to be.
Bird has some very talented friends, musicians known for their exceptional abilities. She managed to get the use of a variety of superb microphones to enhance the sound and clarity of these recordings. Her songs are well written and the ones she has borrowed from others are, in some cases, even better. Dreamwalker has all the elements essential to make a successful recording both technically and artistically. The combination of Bird's strong voice and skilled musicians in recordings produced by Karen Kane should and probably will please listeners.
Sometimes, all of that isn't enough.
For all the thought that has clearly gone into the making of Dreamwalker, the aesthetic is flawed and, while it presents Bird well, it also detracts in several ways from her obvious talent.
There's a feeling of "if you've got it you've got to use it" in this release. Bird has invited a baker's dozen friends to participate, and she appears to have felt the compulsion to use all of them in every track. If this were visual art, one might say the work is too busy. There's just too much going on. A delicate perfume can be a joy, but who hasn't stood next to a woman with too much perfume or a man who drenches himself in cologne?
Bird has a husky voice as suited to country music as it is to folk music. This release has both, as well as touches of light jazz and pop. This voice should be able to carry the songs with only the essential instrumentation, yet this music has the feel of Frankie Laine's country music: "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and "Cry of the Wild Goose" come to mind. Often, rather than support the vocal, the instrumentation competes with it.
Bird's vocals deserve to be given centre stage. Here is a singer with a powerful voice and a distinctive style. About the only singer I know of with a similar voice and style is Tracie Morgan, who Bird sounds very much like. Such a voice can be enhanced by instrumentation but should not be drowned in it.
"OKANADA" is the exception to the rule. Here the big sound heightens the mood of Bird's anthem on the OKA crisis of 1990. Part of what makes the difference is the larger theme of the song, of the story it tells. Another part is that, while it is big and full, the orchestration here is kept simple.
"Bewildered" is arguably the best song on this release. It's a simple, comfortable pop-jazz number featuring Bird's voice supported by just guitar and bass. The song sounds familiar, but I don't really remember it from the past, so it may be a Bird composition. It may just feel familiar because it's so similar in theme and style to hits like Alan Freed's great "Sincerely" from the 'Fifties. Yet "Bewildered" isn't listed on the cover and slips in several seconds after the last song like some secret sister. A shame. I'd love to see Bird do a whole album of material in this style. It suits her well.
"Dreamwalker" is an excellent beginning. If Bird and her producers practice restraint and don't use everything they've got just because they've got it, her next release should be something really special. This one comes very close.
More information on Laura Bird is available at www.laurabird.com.
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