Kinhan, Lauren: Circle in a Square
Kinhan, Lauren: Circle in a Square
Format: CD
Wanting to order from us over the holiday period but need some more information. We are here to help! Please see our Christmas Shipping page for more information.
On average, orders containing available-to-ship items are processed and dispatched within 1-2 business days, although this is not guaranteed.
Orders containing preorder items will ship as 1 fulfillment once all items in the order are available to ship.
Please note, Tower Records Merchandise and Exclusives are dispatched separately. On average, these items take 3-4 business days to dispatch, although this is not guaranteed.
The estimated shipping times that are displayed at checkout are from the point of dispatch.
See our shipping policy for more information.
We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item(s) to make a return.
For orders created between November 20th 2024 and December 31st 2024, we have extended our normal return period. For orders made between this period, customers have up to 60 days from the receipt of goods to return an item. Please see our Christmas Returns page for more information.
To be eligible for a return of an unwanted item, your item must be in the same condition that you received it and in its original packaging.
In the unfortunate situation that a product is damaged/faulty/incorrect, let us know and we will endeavor to correct any issue as soon as possible.
Please see our refund policy for more information.
Artist: Kinhan, Lauren
Label: CD Baby
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 616892182740
Genre: Jazz
The first thing you notice is her voice, and then her savvy choices. Lauren Kinhan possesses a rare and beautiful instrument, tough and tender, clear and fine-grained in every register, whether she's dipping down into husky chest tones or ascending into silvery head tones. With her glorious sound, she could sing anything and make it a memorable listening experience, but Kinhan is defining herself as an artist by creating her own material, making a compelling case that 21st century jazz singers can thrive outside the context of the American Songbook. Rooted in jazz's improvisational imperative, she knows that you best celebrate the music by remaking it in your own image. Veteran vocalist and composer Lauren Kinhan is at the peak of her form as shown on her latest project, Circle in a Square. Partnered with the great engineer and producer Elliot Scheiner and seed money from a successful Kickstarter campaign, she has unleashed 12 exquisitely crafted songs that mean to push boundaries and buttons. "Beyond how effortlessly and beautifully Lauren sings, I was blown away by what a great songwriter she is," Scheiner says. "Her songs will be considered standards in the future.' Part of what makes Circle in a Square so revelatory is that it provides a rare 360 degree glimpse into Kinhan's musical world. She wrote all the lyrics and almost all the music for every piece, and shaped each arrangement working with her core rhythm section of pianist/keyboardist Andy Ezrin and drummer Ben Wittman (the well-traveled Will Lee and David Finck divide bass duties). The steady personnel provides a cohesive feel throughout the album, while an all-star gallery of special guests contributes instrumental commentary and eloquent solos, such as Brazilian guitar great Romero Lubambo's perfectly sculpted acoustic passage on the intricate, lyric-less "Chasing the Sun" and trumpet maestro Randy Brecker's melodically charged passage on the title track. On the opening track Kinhan sings, "It's a bird/It's a plane", but instead of a Superman sighting, she's hailing music itself. Sounding like a cross between Donald Fagen and Joni Mitchell, the song captures the evocative power of a record spinning on a turntable with a finely etched lyric married to a seductive melody that embodies the very transportive power Kinhan describes. It's a bravura performance, and everything that follows lives up to it's implicit promise. She often makes brilliant use of contrasting musical elements, like the way the jagged piano figure sets off the long sinuous melody of "My Painted Lady Butterfly" (a song tied together by Joel Frahm's serpentine soprano sax solo). She summons the intensity of a gospel singer on the deceptively languorous "Another Hill to Climb," which initially sounds like an uplifting anthem but instead unfolds as a cautionary tale. Whether rapturously becalmed ("The Deep Within"), on the good-time prowl ("Pocketful of Harlem"), or tormented by the search for unknowable answers ("To Live or Die"), Kinhan turns each piece into a self-contained emotional narrative driven by her unerring musical taste. "Think of me as a horn player who sings a lyric or a dancer filling a phrase, a reedy voice that's lived in, adventurous and unapologetic," Kinhan says. "It all circles around living in the moment, telling a story and letting conventions be undressed and re-outfitted."
Tracks:
1.1 Circle in a Square
1.2 My Painted Lady Butterfly
1.3 Another Hill to Climb
1.4 Chasing the Sun
1.5 I'm Lookin' for That Number
1.6 To Live or Die
1.7 Pocketful of Harlem
1.8 We're Not Going Anywhere Today
1.9 Chaussure's Complex
1.10 Bear Walk
1.11 Vanity's Paramour
1.12 Deep Within