May 1, 2007 by Dave.

Actually it’s in the postman’s hands by tomorrow morning. All the stuff for the Sundance Writers lab are off to Beverly Hills by priority mail. Right now this is something I really want. Last year I had a great experience with NALIP’s Latino Writers Lab and that is based on the Sundance model. This year I’m taking a risk and going for the big kahuna itself. Hoping it pays off.

Send any good vibes my way and out to the universe. Thanks!

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May 1, 2007 by Dave.

While I was in LA on my trip, I got to read at what is turning into my favorite poetry spots in Santa Monica—Crimson Spot (they’re in my friends list if you want to check them out). While there, I caught a wonderful performer playing one of the last sets of the night. Soon after the night was done, I bought Tara Ellis’ new CD Proper Lady. It was a bit of a surprise hearing what she recorded, if only because she’s much better live than what she has on CD so far.

Proper Lady is a self described “alternative soul CD with a live band feel.” It is definitely a white soul album, bringing to mind Pink’s Can’t Take Me Home, especially some of the later tracks on the CD. Immediately Did I Tell You springs to mind. With its chorus of Prince-like harmonies and approach mixed with an Alicia Keys sensibility, it is one of the standouts of the album. The title track is a definite anthem right out of the Pink playbook, but with lyrics and structure that Pink hasn’t come to approach yet. At once catchy, independent, and stand your ground tough, it’s a song that can come to define this artist if she herself wasn’t genre mixing. The song Crazy Baby is probably the reason I bought the CD in the first place. Lyrically sophisticated, musically straightforward but an old school arrangement, it is a crowd favorite for obvious reasons. Her voice pleads as well as rejects in a song about just that in a semi-doomed relationship. Shine is a great closer to the album, simple, spare lyrics with a slow soul, gospel and 70s R&B feel, and Ellis backed by the choral group in there really feels like this would be done right in church, even if it ends a bit too soon.

There are a couple of misses on the CD. Gimme Gimme tries way too hard to be the single that Proper Lady already is. It felt like an afterthought to me, like we need this, forgetting they had a song to fill a role. A couple of songs are so close in tone and arrangement and they follow one another that it’s hard to tell which is which. However that doesn’t take away from the rest of the CD. The other problem with the CD is that it is EQ’d a bit off. There’s WAY too much bass in the instruments that it’s almost painful. And to get that bass, I think they sacrificed some of Tara’s vocals, which while a beautiful soprano, has a much fuller feeling heard live (and I heard her both acoustic and a capella that night so I can tell). If anyone deserves a record deal in order to remix a decent demo CD she does. It’s well worth the investment.

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