Kristin Berardi: The Light & the Dark
Earshift Music

The Light & the Dark is a jazz vocal album with a difference: yes, Kristin Berardi is front and centre, but the Australian singer's musical partners, in-demand trumpeter Ingrid Jensen among them, share a major part of the spotlight. While it's tempting to praise Berardi for being a generous host, she's the primary beneficiary when the musical results are enhanced so much by her colleagues' involvement. Having issued more than a dozen solo albums and worked with an impressive array of artists throughout the world, Berardi, currently residing in Lucerne, brings an experienced hand to the release. Tailoring her delivery to the material, she possesses a versatile instrument equally effective at an intimate hush and high decibel declamation. As a songwriter, she's gifted too, as shown by the pieces on The Light & the Dark, eight by her alone, another co-written with the album's producer Sam Anning, and the tenth by Mark Sholtez. Examining the complexities of love, life, and relationships, Berardi's songs reveal her to be a story-teller with a sensitive lyrical bent, but she's also comfortable with wordless improvising when the setting calls for it.

Double bassist Marty Jaffe and drummer Jerome Jennings join her, Jensen, and Sprague on the album, with saxophonist Troy Roberts appearing on one song. They're all seasoned pros, Jensen a sought-after player who always enhances a recording, and Jennings a drummer who's worked with the Lincoln Center Orchestra and Sonny Rollins. All of the players demonstrate keen sensitivity to the character of the song in play and customize their approach to help shape its presentation and capture its essence. Despite the project's Australian connections, the album was recorded at NYC's Bunker Studios over two days in June 2019.

The title track opens the release, its message that one can inhabit multiple moods and states at the same time imparted by a soulful vocal and the sparkle of acoustic piano trio accompaniment—jazz singing and small group interplay at a high level and in a concise four-minute package. A rather more biting tone informs “A Lie,” which adds Jensen's horn to the attack. Stepping confidently into her solo, the trumpeter digs into the bluesy tune with vigour, building her expression methodically to a climax and roaring over the swelling backdrop. With sensual vocal harmonies added to the eruptive mix, the performance grows even more memorable. Its dark subject matter notwithstanding, “He Was a Loaded Gun” registers strongly for its infectious, hard-grooving attack and melodies that tickle the ear.

Parting company from the ensemble treatments, Sholtez's “What You Want” emphasizes the singer's vulnerable side in featuring her and Sprague in a tender duet, the pianist distinguishing the material with tasteful restraint and Berardi using her vocal artistry to powerful effect. She wrote “Slow Waltz” years ago in hopes of capturing the kind of songwriting magic at which one of her influences, American bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss, excels. Aptly titled, the song's delivered at a glacial tempo, a smart choice for enabling the allure of Berardi's voice to be fully heard. “Too Late” is likewise elevated by her singing when a beautiful vocal intro blossoms into a delicate ballad. One of the jazziest cuts is “Full of the New,” which receives a playful treatment replete with scat singing from the leader and fiery extemporizations by Jensen. Another's “Bunker,” which, titled after the Brooklyn studio where it was recorded, features wild, improv-styled interplay between Jensen, Roberts, and Berardi, her wordless turn giving her voice the character of a third horn.

October 2022