Wishes

As a singer with a musician's flare for improvisation and color, Masakowski moves quickly away from the new standard of well-dressed ape-ists, stuck forever in some blow-dried, blindingly safe version of straight-ahead institutionalism. She has place in that tradition, but works furiously here and on Bionica's Take Your City, to push out on the edges. Drummer Julian Addison does a good job, for instance, of roughing up St. James,' one of the more well-trod New Orleans favorites. Masakowski then uses the open spaces to more fully survey the pain of those left behind. She gets caught on the half-line he'll never find,' repeating it over and over, exposing a raw nerve, before finally letting go: ...' another love like mine.' Elsewhere, Maskakowski confidently extemporizes through the tangled jumble of invention by pianist James Westfall and bassist Jasen Weaver on the title track of Wishes, an original by Masakowski. Yours,' co-written with producer Westfall, is a whispering, Rhodes-driven ballad that floats like smoke. The soon-to-be released EP closes with Canto de Oassanha,' this shimmering Brazilian number that recalls her work around town with Nova Nola. Masakowski adds a spicy samba vocal amid layered rhythms, and another delicately ruminative solo by Westfall on the electric piano. - courtesy of Something Else!