Growns, jazz artist Terri Lyne Carrington has a new album called The Mosaic Project: LOVE and SOUL. With this album Carrington pays tribute to many male artists and composers who have inspired or influenced her. She decided to include an Ashford and Simpson song on her album and took it one step further by asking Valerie Simpson to sing on her arrangement of “Somebody Told A Lie”.
About the collaboration, Carrington says, “I have always loved the songs of Ashford and Simpson and have always been inspired by the genius of their musical contributions to American culture. I knew I wanted to include something of theirs on this CD, as The Mosaic Project: LOVE and SOUL pays tribute to many male artists and composers that have inspired or influenced me. I was between “Somebody Told A Lie” and “Send It” because I felt like both could possibly lend themselves to a jazz influenced approach, but “Somebody Told a Lie” won out. I asked Valerie Simpson to sing it on the CD and was quite nervous about playing the demo for her, but in the end, she liked it and I was extremely honored to have her sing it on the CD. It’s an important addition because it helped to shape the direction of the entire project. This song also features the great Geri Allen on piano.”
Valerie Simpson returns the compliments for Carrington: “‘Somebody Told A Lie’ is the song that Terri Lyne rearranged and produced in her own inimitable style,” says Simpson. “She gave it another treatment and that’s what a songwriter wants—you want a new treatment, it already exist in its old form, so why do that again. She took it to a whole new place, I love it.”
About The Mosaic Project:LOVE and SOUL (From the Carrington’s Facebook Page):
On The Mosaic Project: LOVE and SOUL, Carrington juxtaposes her salute to female artists by paying homage to various male artists who have either influenced her professionally and/or informed her musicality, such as Nick Ashford, George Duke, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Luther Vandross and Bill Withers. “Whenever I do something that celebrates women, I never want it to feel like it’s something that excludes men,” she explains. “On this record, I consciously wanted to celebrate the various relationships women have with men either through original songs of mine or cover songs by male composers and song writers.” The male presence and perspective on The Mosaic Project: LOVE and SOUL is even more realized by Billy Dee Williams, who contributes insightful spoken-word interludes through the disc.
I ask questions of your some of your favorite artists.
