Lizzy Parks - Raise The Roof

Artist.....: Lizzy Parks
Title......: Raise The Roof
Label......: Tru Thoughts

Store Date.: Sep-22-2008
Genre......: Jazz+Funk

Encoder....: Lame 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new
Size.......: 48,7 MB


Track Listing:

01 - Raise The Roof                                  05:25
02 - Take Care                                       03:26
03 - Time                                            04:16
04 - Soul Bird                                       03:21
05 - Spring Changes                                  03:13
06 - Seven Day Fool                                  03:11
07 - Forever And A Day                               03:17
08 - I'm All That                                    02:54
09 - Ode To St Cecilie                               04:25
10 - Leaving Home                                    03:06
11 - Prayer                                          06:03

                                                     ÄÄÄÄÄ
                                                     42:37 min
Release Notes:

www.etchshop.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/5418

‘Raise The Roof’ is a euphoric, original and unforgettable
introduction to one of the most distinctive singers of the moment.

Deftly produced by Ben ‘Nostalgia 77’ Lamdin and with rich,
dramatic orchestration from Riaan Vosloo of the acclaimed
Nostalgia 77 Octet, ‘Raise The Roof’ embodies Lizzy’s fresh and
modern personal twist on the singer-songwriter tradition,
encompassing elements of various styles from retro jazz and boogie
soul to ambient experimental music.

The expansive, multi-layered groove of the title track – out as a
single on 11th August – has won radio play and support from
Laurent Garnier, Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1) and many other DJs
and tastemakers including Snowboy and Pete Isaac (Jelly Jazz). The
album is built on stunning live musicianship and sumptuous strings
combined with a traditional approach to recording, using vintage
instruments and microphones, and Lizzy’s amazing voice full and
vibrant at the front of the mix. Lizzy’s distinctive style may be
familiar to Nostalgia 77 fans as she and Lamdin have worked
together several times over the years; notably their first
collaboration was “The Hope Suite” which Lizzy co-wrote and sang,
and which was nominated for Track of the Year in Gilles Peterson’s
BBC Radio 1 Worldwide Awards.

Lizzy explores the full reaches of her beautiful voice with the
perfect combination of skill, natural intuition and passion, to
conjure up a new and refreshing experience with each song. A ‘60s
rhythm and blues vibe kicks in with the second track, “Take Care”,
and the languid “Time” takes things in a whole different
direction, with an eerie, ever-spinning sense of space that
required a different mindset when recording: as Lizzy says, “Where
I’d usually be stood belting it out a foot away from the mike,
this track needed an intimacy and closeness that came from sitting
quietly, eyes closed.” ‘Spring changes’, arguably the ‘jazziest’
tune on the record, has a straightforward jazz structure and
rhythm section, horn and voice line up. The rolling, bluesy lyrics
talk about getting so stuck in the rat race that you stop noticing
the real changes in life. Lizzy’s version of the old R&B song
“Seven day fool”, which was famously recorded by Etta James in
1961 and describes the stereotype of a woman who’ll do anything
for her man, is followed swiftly by its antidote in the form of
“All That”, a super high-speed swing number with the line “I’m all
that, and a bag of chips” – from the point of view of a woman who
is too good for her man and tells him so. Nostalgia 77’s influence
is evident in the groove and horn riffs, and Lizzy pulls off some
tongue-twistingly fast phrases with old-school charm and style.
“Prayer”, last here but definitely not least, is a virtuoso vocal
journey through an orchestral landscape of great proportions, and
is the B Side to the digital release of the debut single.

‘Raise The Roof’ marks the first time that Ben Lamdin has produced
a solo LP for another artist and this record is set to bring Lizzy
Parks’ extraordinary talent into the limelight once and for all.
Another rising star who recently featured alongside Lizzy on the
latest Nostalgia 77 LP was then-little-known Beth Rowley
(Universal) – just before she hit the big time with her top 10
debut album earlier this year.

An engaging and charismatic performer, Lizzy is the live chanteuse
for the Nostalgia 77 Octet and has worked with many other great
musicians including The Heritage Orchestra (Brownswood) and Chris
Bowden (Ninja Tune).