DEBORAH SHULMAN, We Had A Moment

Before addressing the richer emotional depths and heartfelt storytelling bravura of Deborah Shulman’s soul-stirring latest album We Had A Moment, it must be said – her elegant, easy grooving hipster mash-up of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” and “On Broadway,” created with a trio led by her longtime pianist/arranger Jeff Colella, is perhaps the coolest and most gripping homage to NYC in recent contemporary jazz memory.

Presented as a reflection of the longing she always had to be on Broadway, it’s perfectly in line with Shulman’s overall theme of creating fresh, passionately and beautifully arranged interpretations of thoughtful standards and amazing relative obscurities connected to her personal life in the wake of rounds of successful cancer treatments. Considering that the last project she and Colella collaborated on was the ultra-ambitious The Shakespeare Project, we shouldn’t be surprised that a woman whose range and pristine voice could create sultry, swinging excitement of any random assembling of great tunes chose instead to methodically choose just the right ones to convey her innermost longings, sorrows and joys while leaving us with a sliver of hope.

While the majority of the tracks were recorded over the past few years with Colella, she reached back into her catalog of previously unreleased tracks she recorded in the past with another L.A. powerhouse pianist/arranger, Terry Trotter for three songs that fit the storyline perfectly. These Trotter gems include the plucky, easy swingin’ romance “No Moon at All” (reflecting on her relationship with her husband) and the even more essential, subtly hope filled closer “You Must Believe in Spring,” a Michel Legrand/Alan and Marilyn Bergman classic that finds Shulman affirming that life is worth living despite its travails and tragedies.

Along the way, Shulman mines the magic of two masterful, melodic/poetic think pieces from Stephen Sondheim’s 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle, Cole Porter’s searing social commentary on race, “Miss Otis Regrets,” a criminally overlooked Randy Edelmen ballad of  love and loss (“The Laughter & The Tears”) and the achingly melancholic mashup of Richard Rudolph and Jeremy Lubbock’s “Goodbye Love/Not Like This.”

For all the multi-faceted, stylistically diverse musical narratives on the collection, Shulman’s truest heart emerges on the soulful centerpiece of “Without A Song,” a lesser-known tune from a short lived 1929 musical which was her father’s favorite song and one she listened to often to help her get through her treatment process. Helping bring Shulman’s extraordinary vision to life are a virtual who’s who of jazz mastery, including bassists Kenny Wild and Chris Colangelo, drummers Joe LaBarbera and Kendall Kay and guitarist Larry Koonse.

As transcendent as the songs and arrangements are, the most significant aspect of the We Had a Moment experience is the way it draws us into Shulman’s own life experiences while prompting us to reflect upon our own loves and losses.