Emilie-Claire Barlow: Spark Bird
Empress Music Group

Many a musical artist's drawn for inspiration from birds, be it Messiaen (Catalogue d'oiseaux), Stravinsky (L'Oiseau de feu), or Charlie “Bird” Parker (“Ornithology”). Add to that list of enthusiasts Emilie-Claire Barlow, whose return to recording after a five-year hiatus was sparked by the sound of a yellow-winged cacique tapping on her window. The reason for the break is easily explained: the dark, isolating days of the pandemic not only prevented Barlow from touring, they also made her question whether she had it in her to make another album. Hearing that tap prompted her to get outside, indulge her “budding bird obsession,” and use that experience as a creative inducement. Thank the cacique, then, for inciting Barlow's return to recording and the creation of Spark Bird, a superb addition to the Canadian singer's twelve-album discography.

Barlow, who splits her time between Toronto and Mexico, brings an impressive range of accomplishments to this latest venture. In a career two-and-a-half decades along, she's received seven Juno nominations and won twice, in 2013 for her all-French song release Seule ce soir and three years later for her Clear Day collaboration with the Metropole Orkest. In addition to her own releases, Barlow's contributed to albums by other artists, her appearance on Amanda Tosoff's 2021 release Earth Voices a case in point. Co-produced with her partner Steve Webster (who mixed and mastered the album and had a hand in a number of arrangements), Spark Bird appears on Barlow's own 2005-founded label, Empress Music Group, and features fresh makeovers of songs by Stevie Wonder and Coldplay plus re-imaginings of ones by Harold Arlen, the Gershwins, and others. Barlow also sings in French and Spanish on an album that's diverse yet unified by the album concept and her terrific voice.

And just how terrific is it? Look no further than Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's “Over the Rainbow” and Hoagie Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's “Skylark.” Both are more than familiar, of course, but when Barlow applies her lustrous voice and jazz-inflected phrasing to the material, the songs feel newly hatched. “Over the Rainbow” soars gracefully, its beguiling, bossa nova-styled swing animated by Celso Alberti's percussion, Jon Mahara's bass pulse, Reg Schwager's guitar chords, and Tosoff's piano. It's the combination of Kelly Jefferson's singing tenor sax and Barlow's sultry voice that most recommends the performance, however. Hushed by comparison is an intimate take on “Skylark,” where her towering command of texture and tone elevate the interpretation. Subtly blues-tinged, the treatment begins with the singer accompanied by Schwager only, a choice that allows for a full appreciation of her vocal gifts, and follows with a string arrangement by Drew Jurecka that adds to the spellbinding effect of the song.

Jefferson and Jurecka aren't the only standout musicians on the date. Trumpeter Rachel Therrien contributes a powerfully melancholic solo to a stately rendition of Coldplay's “O” (Tosoff plays piano and arranged the song too), and Toronto-based composer Hannah Barstow is on electric piano for a soaring, horns-enhanced take of her own “Where Will I Be?” With only pianist Chris Donnelly joining her, Barlow delivers a dramatic reading of Manolo Garcia's “Pájaros de Barro” to end the album with a message about leaving sorrow behind and embracing freedom.

Delivered expertly in French, “Fais comme l'oiseau” spotlights Barlow's playful, flirtatious side, with Jefferson accenting her voice with swinging rejoinders. Much the same could be said of the jazzy handling of the Gershwins' “Little Jazz Bird,” which might be a century old but sounds as if it were written yesterday. Pairing English lyrics with Portuguese ones by Sergio Mendes, Wonder's “Bird of Beauty” receives a makeover that's irresistibly enticing in its radiance and soulfulness. Adding to the effervescent feel is flute playing by Bill McBirnie that soars as deliciously as the song. The emotional range encompassed on the album is broad, from mournfulness (“O”) to joy (“Bird of Beauty”) and much else in between.

July 2023