“has the same spell-weaving qualities of her earlier vocal work: a close-to-the-mic intimate timbre, immaculate jazz phrasing and faultless pitching and intonation.”
by David Shiers, 8/28/2026 - UK Jazz News
Some fifteen years after her award-winning breakthrough album, In a Dream, and following many subsequent successes and accolades, this is Gretchen’s third outing on the Edition Records label, after Flor (2021) and Lean In (2023) (*) .
Recorded in 2025 in Los Angeles, it has the same spell-weaving qualities of her earlier vocal work: a close-to-the-mic intimate timbre, immaculate jazz phrasing and faultless pitching and intonation. She is very ably supported by a band comprising Robert Glasper, Gerald Clayton, Mark Guiliana and Alan Hampton as well as Becca Stevens, Amber Navran, Meshell Ndegeocello and Josh Mease.
The opening track, ‘Capricorn’, nicely sets the scene for the rest of the album, creating a sunny, easy vibe. Reminiscent of the more jazz-influenced end of the Stevie Wonder oeuvre, there’s some terrific piano and cleverly layered vocals.
Whilst Gretchen’s ‘Never Come Down’ goes for complex and, in places, hypnotic, Robert Glasper’s ‘Rainbow’ starts funky and settles into a cool, life affirming groove, to match the positive message of the lyric. ‘The Wise Ones’, words by Gretchen, music from Amber Navran, coasts beautifully along, the perfect precursor to a superb interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s ‘If It’s Magic’. Excellent Fender Rhodes here by Robert Glasper weaving in and around Gretchen’s wonderful singing and the whole band sound full of confidence and high-end style on this one.
Track 7 is Roland Orzabal’s ‘Mad World’; yes, that ‘Mad World’ – the one recorded by Tears for Fears and again as part of the soundtrack to the movie, Donnie Darko. As with ‘If It’s Magic’, this coveris particularly skilfully executed as well as being imaginatively arranged.
There is a theme emerging here – that great song writing, including the lyrics, requires a different skill set to that needed for great playing. In most cases, this means having equivalent, commensurate levels of aptitude and dedication that top singers and instrumentalists bring to their art. It’s fine for players to try composition of course, and things have to move on if we are to avoid the endless recycling of the Jazz Canon or the Great American Songbook, but repertoire is, and always has been, crucially important and the bar is set high.
All the other tracks on this fine and accessible album: Alan Hampton’s dreamy ‘It’s You’, Max Bryk’s ‘Already Gone’, ‘Block the Sun’, written by Robert Glasper, and the two final numbers, both penned by Josh Mease, are nuanced, poised and show off the skills and artistry of Gretchen and the band to good effect. The spell, once again, has been woven very well.