It’s Ki time
Posted By Carlo on June 9, 2009
Big news: The first CD by one of my favorite duos, guitarist Bob Fraser and Ki Allen, is finally out and available at CD Baby. Its name is “Calling Card.” It’s a collection of 13 tunes including one original, “Nonetheless.” Ki wrote the melody, Bob arranged it, and Ireta, Ki’s mother, wrote the lyrics. “Nonetheless” nestles comfortably between “I Concentrate on You” and “I’m Confessing,” Great American Songbook standards Bob and Ki freshen with their intimate, swinging style.
I won’t review the album because I wrote the liner notes. But I can’t help telling you it’s a beauty, showcasing a woman I consider the best jazz singer in Cleveland and a guitarist whose gentlemanly approach renders a highly evolved, modernist harmonic sensibility unusually accessible. The album is sweet, often rueful and always highly personal. I hope it gets widespread airplay and brings Bob and Ki the acclaim—and the work—they so richly deserve.
Dearest Carlo,
Thank you for the wonderful blog and promoting our CD on your website. Bob and I really do appreciate it.
Also, that was a very awesome photo of you in the PD last evening. It’s a keeper. I’ll find a place for it on my wall.
Many blessings,
Ki