Reviews

Review: By Dave Nathan, All Music Guide
WCS 015 - What Is My Heart For
Sarah Brooks

Performing with the sparse instrumental backing of guitar and percussion, vocalist Sarah Brooks offers a set of varied material for her debut album. With master guitarist Joe Beck in tow, there's little need for a lot of musicians. Brooks makes it clear that she is not going to be pigeonholed as a predicable singer. Her "Nature Boy" is not Nat King Cole's, or anybody else's for that matter. Her reading of this song is not soft, but a full bodied, contemporary, wailing one, urged on by an energetic, tautly amped Beck guitar. Compare this to a softer Beck on a tender "Don't Let Be Lonely Tonight" done with a bucket full of soul and yearning. These two tunes, as much as any, typify this CD. There is no set musical script, but a concoction with many ingredients which allows the singer to take on tunes from many different areas, and do it successfully and entertainingly. On "What Is my Heart For", there's a hint of contemporary folk, while when she delivers "You Don't Know What Love Is" you know why love is not understandable "unless you learn the feeling of the blues, until you lost the love you had to lose". Brooks' vocal equipment is not pure and clear as a mountain brook. She sometimes overrides the lyrics using the voice as instrument or riding on Beck's guitar. No sweetness and modesty here. Her straight from the soul and the heart interpretations of a good set of songs make this a vocal set that will please those who prefer distinctive singers whose styles aren't prissy and sweet, but robustly down to earth.

Review: by Keith Spore, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WCS 015 - What Is My Heart For
Sarah Brooks

Backed by guitarist Joe Beck, Brooks relies on the simple beauty of her lilting voice and an accompanist who is, in this instance, nonpareil.

Review: By Bob Karlovits, PittsburghLIVE.com
WCS 015 - What Is My Heart For
Sarah Brooks

Singer Brooks presents songs such as the Beatles' "Blackbird" and Sting's "Fragile" with jazz phrasing, plus a country-ish sound. Most of the tunes are duets with guitarist Joe Beck, but some also have a percussionist. A real winner.

Review: By Norman Vickers, Florida Independent Sun
WCS 015 - What Is My Heart For
Sarah Brooks

Sarah Brooks' CD, What is My Heart For on the Whaling City Sound label is a prime example of a CD which engages the ear and the mind. Sarah Brooks has had a career of singing pop, blues and jazz with various bands and has sung on various recordings, but this is her first CD featuring her vocals exclusively. She has a lovely, mature sepia tone alto voice. Veteran guitarist-producer Joe Beck and Atlanta percussionist Woodrow Williams complete the trio. Beck has performed and arranged for a number of stars including Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and has played with many jazz and Latino stars such as Antonio Carlos Jobim. Beck's alto guitar, he explained in a telephone interview, has two bass strings, two regular guitar strings and two 'banjo' strings with the higher strings in the middle. The guitar is tuned several notes lower than the standard guitar tuning. This unique arrangement of strings allows him to play his own bass line while playing melody or chords on the upper strings. For the guitarists who want more details, visit his website www.joebeckmusic.com. The percussion is minimal, but effective. Since there are excellent drummers in the Northeast US, I asked how Woodrow was chosen for this recording. Beck explained that he had an engagement with vocalist Nneena Freelon at Ronnie Scott's in London and that Woodrow was her drummer. "He was the perfect percussionist in that he did not overpower the singer," said Beck. The choice of repertoire for this album was also engaging and unusual. There was a standard "All the Way" associated with Frank Sinatra, a blues by Willie Dixon and Fragile by Sting. Nature Boy was done with a Latin beat, certainly an unusual and beautiful rendition. In a telephone interview with Ms. Brooks, I inquired how the tunes were chosen. She replied that "All the Way" was in memory of her father, a drummer who had been a huge Sinatra fan. She said she grew up listening to her father's collection of Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Sinatra and others. One tune, "That's the Way I Live" is a spontaneous composition by Brooks and Beck. Beck explained that in warming up, he was playing a blues sequence of chords. "I said, sing me some blues, she started singing and that's how it happened," explained Beck. When asked what was unique about this recording session, the guitarist-producer replied, "What was unique about it was her voice!" This CD should appeal to a broad range of listeners... those who like melodic vocals, blues and pop fans and guitar enthusiasts. I found myself listening to this CD repeatedly and I think listeners will be intrigued, too, with the combination of lovely alto voice, virtuoso alto guitar and tasteful percussion. Should Ms. Brooks have done a solo album a decade sooner? I'd vote yes. But younger singers might follow her example and wait for some vocal maturity before they go solo. I look forward to the next album.