Artist: Tina May

Date of Release: 21/06/2006

Catalogue no: 33JAZZ134

Label: 33 Jazz 143

Price: £12

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Track Listing

Appearances by

Nikki Iles

A Wing and a Prayer (33JAZZ134)

Tina May - Vocals
Nikki Iles - Piano
Stan Sulzmann - Saxophone & Flute

May Be September
You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to
Who Can I Turn To?
Sunshower
Too Late Now
Blue Narcissus (Black Narcissus)
Turn Out The Stars
When In Rome
A Wing And A Prayer (Gentile Peace)
Easy To Love
House Is Not A Home

A Wing and a Prayer (33JAZZ134) which continues the series of albums made by Tina and Nikki Iles featuring leading woodwind players – previous albums with Alan Barnes and Tony Coe.

This album features the wonderful Stan Sulzmann, who contributes some beautiful solos. Tina contributes some original lyrics to songs by Kenny Wheeler and Joe Henderson and Nikki Iles again demonstrates why many regard her as the UK's leading pianist.

The album explores some wonderful tunes and lyrics, performed by musicians at the peak of their creative powers.

Reviews

20/10/2006 Chris Parker

Dedicated to Shirley Horn, probably the music's greatest exploiter of a luxuriously slow tempo for emotional effect, this album is one of Tina May's most intimate artistic statements, exploring what she calls the 'vulnerable' side of life via songs that hold 'personal significance'.

This Horn connection is most overt in one of the album's standout tracks, 'Too Late Now', which encapsulates the recording's strengths: a pitch-perfect, flawlessly articulated singing performance from May supported by robust yet sensitive saxophone from Stan Sulzmann and flowing, subtle piano from Nikki Iles.

Add a great ear for suitable material (the album contains standards by the likes of Cole Porter and Newley/Bricusse, the Bacharach/David classic 'A House is not a Home', and a couple of May's own lyrics set to 'Black Narcissus' by Joe Henderson and Kernny Wheeler's 'Gentle Piece'), and a wonderfully responsive pair of accompanists in Iles and Sulzmann, and the result is one of May's most approachable and rewarding recordings.