::ALBUM REVIEW::
by J Matthew Cobb
Posted: April 19, 2009

It’s been nine years since her last project, but she has been far from inactive. Kim Burrell has landed a great deal of guest appearances on albums with artists like Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick, Jr., Marvin Winans, American Idol judge Randy Jackson, Richard Smallwood, Kirk Whalum and Tye Tribbett. Having state that, solo albums are still an musical artist's best representation and Burrell fans, even after countless appearances on TBN’s Praise the Lord, have been anxiously awaiting for something fresh from the jazzy riffer. Yet bad news after bad news, including tumultuous record deals going sour with Sony Urban and Tommy Boy, left her faithful followers with a great deal of doubt over a career resurgence. After receiving teasers on Gospelflava.com of an ambitious live recording, live concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall and throwing out a few promotional singles along the way, Burrell responds with No Ways Tired; her latest studio effort on the Shanachie label. Project wise, this is her most forward leap into gospel jazz even though the album parades around a slew of hymn arrangements and gospel classics. But her remakes are sensibly altered to place strong focus on her jazz background rather than treading the paths of Burrell’s closest cohorts (Nikki Ross, Kierra Sheard, Beyonce’, Fantasia, Ledisi). Rather than putting out a flashy urban R&B-oriented record, she maintains her underground image of performing her unique style of "jazz gospel" without sacrificing much of what she is accredited for starting since her Tommy Boy debut in 1998.

After opening the album using a playful reflection of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” Burrell shoots into the radio-friendly “Happy” and aims to turn a familiar children’s song into a relevant hymn of praise. With lyrics like “use your happy” and “to be happy and to know it is to dance,” it’s hard to seriously get over the campy lyricism even though the song’s locked down groove pulsates like any of her former funky creations. Surprisingly where Burrell stand out is how she undertakes the tedious challenge of altering universal hymns, even their highly-familiar melodies, without slouching into a bad case of remake suffrage. “Just As I Am,” which paints small images of Anita Baker’s “Giving You The Best That I Got,” gains a soothing contemporary jazz filter that resonates the vibes of relaxing soul-lounge music. Chris Edwards’ piano helps build the jazzy fires as Burrell rides the coattails of her lower register. Other well-arranged jazz include the Curtis Burrell-classic “No Ways Tired” (taken from the James Cleveland songbook) and the harmonica-embellished and sweetly subdued “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.”

While breaking out the remakes, Burrell tosses a few originals into the mix. “Yes To Your Will,” which contains a lovely, but overtly simple worshipful chorus, demonstrates Burrell’s keen ability to recreate the perfect live experience in a studio session without going for the preachy gusto. Kathy Burrell, who sounds identical to Blanche McAllister-Dykes (Donald Lawrence), joins her sister on the smooth ballad. On “Jesus,” her last original presentation, the music is generally pleasant with its soothing smooth jazz but never takes flight as the song progresses.

And while Burrell presents a collection aimed at coming across as safe, there are a few warps that hurt the planned easy-listening odyssey. While a staple in jazz and great American songbooks, Burrell’s spiritual take on George Gershwin’s “Someone To Watch Over Me” (from the musical Oh, Kay!) isn’t quite a natural disaster but surely feels out of place on No Ways Tired. What hurts hymn arrangements like "I Surrender All” and “My Faith Looks Up To Thee” the most is how each song tries so hard to bend their timeless melodies into jazzy, melisma-throwing exercises. In the end, both arrangements in particular feels too forced.

Still, No Ways Tired is met with tough criticism and careful observation. It’s definitely two steps forward in her pursuit to dig deeper into her newfound popularity in the jazz world. And to some degree, her album drought has finally ended. But an album loaded with remakes, one or two safe originals, depressing cover artwork and mild production (when compared to her debut Everlasting Life) isn’t the kind of direction one expects from an artist who has been signed to a number of high-profiled labels while working with big industry names as mentioned before. Still it is quite refreshing to see Burrell doing what naturally suits her style of singing. Rather than chasing after the pop life, she seems comfortable in working out cool contemporary gospel tunes and refreshing jazz out takes. And while jazz is now a very distant cousin to gospel and is visibly distant on the charts, Burrell leaves behind an album that’s pleasant for her personality but too grey and comfortable for a career breakout.