Ava Lemert | from my Soul
Listen to “You Know You Got It” from The “from my Soul” album on our New Voices of Today Page by clicking here!!
There’s something unique about new vocalist/saxophonist Ava Lemert. Coming “from my Soul”, Ava’s debut CD, seemingly expresses a multi-talented background with not only gracing the brass, but also packing in the punch behind the vocals & resonating great musical appreciation for soul music. ‘Saxxy’ & definitely soulful, this project crossed & connected the bridges of R&B & jazz music effortlessly. A dynamic 9 tracks of funky, ‘from the gut’ soul mixes that should entice a listen with ease.
From a few short listens, I found Ava’s sax skills to be comparable to counterparts Candy Dulfer, Pamela Williams & Sapphron Obois.
Track Listing:
~ You Know You Got It
~ I Wanna Funk It Up
~ Rhodelea
~ Won’t Be Your Plaything
~ That 70’s Girl
~ Nothing Looks the Same in the Light
~ Soft & Silky
~ You Got Somethin Coming To You
~ Kiss You
Straight up at cha’, ‘You Know You Got It’ serves up a spicy, old school fashioned soul cut, placing much focus on the vocal passion of Ava Lemert. I digged the swaying, mellowed out composition. Then, ‘I Wanna Funk It Up’ drives home the main ingredient. The track represented a contemporary funky thematic touch to the entire disc. She wants to, lyrically put: ‘funk it up’…’give it up’…’give it all she got’! OK Ava, well show us what you got.
We get a chance to see some of those skills behind the sax appear in ‘Rhodelea’ – a rather slow stormin’, instrumental R&B influence flowing preciously & hip against an intoxicating beat. Ava’s lead vocals take center stage once again for ‘Won’t Be Your Plaything’ & ‘Nothing Looks The Same in the Light’, while ‘That 70’s Girl’ slightly cracks the Wah Wah guitar from the background & allow for a tight, sax harmony to drift another funky mid-tempo gem. The chemistry repeats itself in ‘Soft & Silky’ – appropriately titled. Nuff Said.
Ms. Lemert penchant for singing finalizes the disc with the remaining tracks, ‘You Got Somethin Coming To You’ & Kiss You’.
My final thoughts about ‘from my Soul’ was kind of split in opinion. Although I can appreciate & acknowledge Ava’s soulful, delicate voice on the majority of compositions, I REALLY got into her soothing, moody sax wails on the other songs. In other words, I wished there were more of those ‘jazz only’ tracks instead of the more vocal arrangements. No doubt, Ms. Lemerts’ background shined brightly for both sides of the coin (vocals & Sax). However, I felt the instrumentals was the bigger representation of the disc. No matter what, I offer the ‘go get it’ pass to those who dig a great value of traditional soul sounds with a slight appeal to the progressive vein of current Urban Jazz/R&B music. Ava has something to offer folks & I believe she is a “New Voice of Today” to look out for for years to come.
Terrill Hanna
The Urban Music Scene