Gracie Curran & The High Falutin’ Band recorded a fine party album for their debut Proof Of Love. This CD has plenty of energy, swinging horns, danceable beats, swirling organ chords, music that just makes one think of a good time. It is certainly cool that Curran has a vocal timbre that is reminiscent of the great early 20th century blues and jazz vocalists. She might remind one of anyone from Billie Holiday to Etta James. The only problem is that Curran, either by nature or lack of practice, doesn’t have the rangy power of any of those old times great. She doesn’t even come close.
Tom Carroll’s puts a lot of personality into his guitar work. His rugged opening riffs to first track “Even With The Rain” sets the stage for the promising force of nature musicianship that the rest of the band explodes with. Curran applies her natural timbre well to this rocking, bluesy R&B, with the right attitude for this swinging number.
“Take You With Me” slows things down to show what the band can do down tempo style. Curran’s vocal has enough edge for this low simmer blues piece. Thin but effective, her voice has enough of that sass beneath the surface to make this one work. Carroll, again, puts a good musical voice in. This time he’s moving the freight with a quieter but steadier power, and everything works well here, all of the pieces in the right places. Meanwhile, a brassy horn section puts exuberant expression behind everything else here.
“Jack & Maryjane” is another that benefits from Carroll’s guitar attack and the obtrusive horn section. This one rocks right out with a Carroll guitar progression moving forward, unstoppable, like a full force gale that knocks down everything in its path. Tasty, assertive riffs increase the wattage here while the horn section becomes the blowing winds around the eye of the storm. Curran doesn’t quite manage to finesse the aggressive lyrics as much as she belts them with an undisciplined attempt at being forceful.
A tender guitar line lulls one into a safe feeling on “Rock & A Hard Place,” a number that showcases what Curran can achieve when she takes her sweet time at the microphone. The singer seems to have a comfort level on these more ballad oriented pieces. Soulful horn lines carry quite well around Curran’s vocal melody. If only her voice was a little thicker here. She isn’t lacking anything, and she sure can entertain on the strength of her vocal presence. She only needs a little more heft, more power, more projection. But boy, that organ and horn section sure come up with a magic sound.
“Can’t Getta” gets by on Curran’s sass and the band’s swanky rhythmic clip. They all carry this one through its jumping, twisting, turning motions. The singer does quite well on this one, moving her vocal melody with its jumpy nerve. She approaches the level of rangy power here that she should’ve mustered from the beginning of this album. The horn section creates a sly, mischievous tone beneath Curran’s rendering of her lyrical gripes with the way the world is today. Carroll injects a fine musical voice with his ever so tastefully self-restrained guitar phrase. “Can’t Getta” is the song the band should have pushed and sent out to radio. This is definitely a tune that can inspire visualization and movement, to the point where it could be included in a movie soundtrack.
“Told Me So” cruises in with a pleasant, breezy horn line. Curran makes the most of her classy timbre, stretching it into something more expressive than the rest of her efforts on this debut album. She arrives at that point, in this particular tune, where she uses her voice with the precision of a sharply played instrument. Everything comes together at the right time here, timbre, tone, range. Sustained vocal notes make a difference between acceptable and good, and it’s good. Way good. A tuneful lead guitar phrase shines spiritedly while a simmering organ swirl carries the listener away like a flying carpet ride.
“Been All Over” has a Willie Dixon influence in its composition. A thick, knobby bass line bumps this forward with a strong personality, and an impeccably fine harmonica performance takes the listener back to a purer time in blues. The guitar takes over the melodic line, equally the power of the exquisitely tasteful electric harp. Put them both together and the listener is treated to true, hefty blues power. Curran handles herself well at the microphone, giving just enough voice to carry it along, leaving enough breathing room for the incredible musicianship swarming around her.
Again, Curran continues to acquits herself on the bottom half of this album. “Weight Of Her World” gives her room, with its low key band support, to her express herself with some power and range. Her voice stands up straight and is accounted for here. Well oiled on this piece, the vocal melody moves around like it’s comfortable in its own zone. Perky horn lines, edgy guitar spikes, simmering organ backdrop, and a bopping rhythm section come together to make this one work.
Curran and her High Faluters use “With Friends Like These” to close out their mixed bag of an album. Curran finds space amidst the low dynamics of her support band to showcase her softer, sexier timbre. Her voice glides in a pleasant alluring direction amidst colorful meandering touches from the rest of the band. If only she sounded as good on up-tempo, aggressive, belty numbers. A jazzy horn line pretties things up with classy sophistication and the lead guitar phrase is the personification of subtle. These melody lines just barely kiss the surface of Curran’s vocal melody, and that unobtrusive touch makes all the difference.
There are certainly things that work on this Curran & The High Falutin’ Band debut. There are more things don’t quite arrive at the right place at the right time in quite the right way. Curran needs a little vocal coaching to learn how to belt out the more aggressive numbers with discipline and power. Maybe she lacks confidence. Maybe she lacks natural power. Either way, she needs to put more oomph in her belts and she needs to do so with better control and self-discipline. This has been noticeable when Curran performs at events with multiple singers. Her voice just never reaches the back of the room as solidly as the others. The download version of Proof Of Love doesn’t offer much in the way of liner notes. The guest musicians are probably keyboardist Bruce Bears, harmonica player Rosy Rosenblatt, and the horns have a distinct Roomful shading. Rosenblatt is likely the studio mastermind who put all of this sound together. If you’re going to make a blues album, it’s only a plus to have the finer people in New England’s scene along for the ride. Let’s hope there is more improvement before Curran and her High Falutin’ Band go back into the recording studio for their second go round.
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