Robin McKelle 2006-2019

Robin McKelle has an interesting story, and has recorded in a variety of styles that makes her difficult to pin down. She is a fine singer of jazz, soul, blues and pop. She writes some great songs, and has had some excellent writing partners. Although she hails from upstate New York, her first success came singing big band jazz in Europe. Her first release, Introducing 2006, is an excellent big band jazz record that swings. Confident, assured vocals, fine arrangements, and a stellar big band led by producer/trumpeter Willie Murillo featuring many great soloists. Highlights include Something's Gotta Give, For All We Know, Deep In A Dream, I've Got The World On A String, and a slow, sultry Come Rain Or Come Shine.

Next up, Modern Antique 2008, is another big band outing, and McKelle's vocals are just a bit more confident sounding, and a bit stronger. Willie Murillo produces again, this time with McKelle's assistance. Song selection is great, and includes Steve Miller's Abracadabra done big band style. Other highlights include Comes Love, Cheek To Cheek, Save Your Love For Me, Make Someone happy, and McKelle's first songwriting credit, the lovely closer Remember.

Mess Around 2010 finds McKelle fronting a smaller jazz combo of keyboards, bass and drums (and occasional guitar) augmented by three or four horns on all but two songs. McKelle produces herself, and wrote four of the songs. The rest are written by a wide array of songsmiths including Bee Gees, Leonard Cohen, Doc Pompus, Lennon/McCartney, and Willie Dixon. Her own Mess Around kicks things off in fine soul-jazz style. Several of the best songs are blues, including Never Make A Move Too Soon, Lonely Avenue, and I Just Want To Make Love To You. The record closes with another fine McKelle original, Since I Looked In Your Eyes.

So 2012 rolls around and Robin takes another musical turn, this time to soul music, with her Soul Flower release. There is a completely revamped band, The Flytones, featuring bassist/co-producer/songwriting partner Derek Nievergelt, Ben Stivers on keys, Adrian Harpham on drums, Al Street on guitar, and a three-man horn section. Robin writes or co-writes eight of the twelve songs. If you liked seventies soul music, it is hard to believe this came out in 2012. Highlights include her own Tell You One Thing, a sexy come-on, Fairytale Ending, a classic Philly/Memphis soul hybrid that has hit single written all over it, and the funky Don't Give Up. Two excellent duets, the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody with Lee Fields and Love's Work with Gregory Porter, and an unusually fast take on Bacharach's Walk On By are all great.

For 2014's Heart Of Memphis, McKelle stays with soul, this time emulating those fine Hi Records Memphis soul gems from the seventies. The Flytones return with a new two-man horn section, McKelle writes or co-writes 10 of the 12 songs, and everything works. The rocking soul of Good Time, the slow longing loss of Forgetting You, the walking blues of the title track. A very fine, quick-tempo Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood shines bright. Good & Plenty and Down With The Ship are great songs. Played to perfection by the Flytones, sung with panache by McKelle, it is a killer old soul outing. Produced in Memphis by Scott Bomar, the sound is excellent.

On The Looking Glass 2014, McKelle makes another musical style change, and creates a mature pop record not far removed from Adele, but with lingering soul overtones. McKelle wrote or cowrote all the songs. Steve Greenwell recorded and produced the record, and there is a new band in place on piano, bass, and drums, with Al Street back on guitar, and Greenwell adding keyboard touches throughout. It's her first record without any horns. The record kicks off with the funky modern soul of Gravity, the great hooks of Stand Up (a call to action), and the Adele-like slow build of I'm The One, with its killer chorus of Robins. Forgive Me's soul-pop harmonies follows, then Stay sounds like a good track from a Lauren Hill album, and the jazzy cautionary tale that is Brave Love keeps the quality high. The last three songs tread mid-tempo water, but it is overall a very strong outing.

After two soul albums and a pop one, Robin turns again and returns to jazz on Melodic Canvas 2018. A small combo with Shedrick Mitchell on piano and organ, Vincente Archer on bass, Daniel Sadownick on drums, and Al Street on guitar. McKelle produces, and makes another good one. Do You Believe has a gospel-like sound, Come To Me is sexy smooth jazz, You're No Good sounds like a jazz version of a Dusty Springfield song. Swing Low Sweet Chariot has a jazzy syncopated gospel feel, and Allen Toussaint's Yes We Can Can receives a slow build that takes the song to a new place, and a good place. There's a few moody jazz pieces that slow things down, but the singing is always fine. It might be less consistent than her best, but she's stretching out on this one, and you have to admire her moxie even if not everything works.

Which brings us to Alterations 2019. Shedrick Mitchell returns on keys and produced with McKelle. Richie Goods plays bass, Charles Haynes plays drums, and Nir Felder plays guitar. Guest horns appear on two tracks. This time (because she does like to change things up) it is a covers record with one McKelle original. The covers are all over the map, but feature mostly pop songs from Amy Winehouse, Joni Mitchell, Adele, Dolly Parton, Sade, Ella Fitzgerald, and Janis Joplin. The jazz version of Back In Black is super, and Adele's Rolling In The Deep is an interesting arrangement. Mercedes Benz is taken as a blues-rock, and Don't Explain gets a remarkable vocal from Robin. Her own Head High is another highlight, and features a smoking sax solo. Like most covers records, there are some questionable choices, including Sade's No Ordinary Love (it's ordinary), Joni Mitchell's River (not an easy song to interpret), and Parton's Jolene (hard to turn into jazz). Similarly to The Looking Glass, the first half is the strong half. But the good stuff is good enough you don't want to miss it.

The real heartbreak is that she has gone mostly unnoticed in her homeland. She is a much better known artist in France and Germany than here in the U.S., and that's just a shame. If you like big band vocals, get Modern Antique. For small combo jazz, I still like Mess Around, which is a great set of songs, and features three blues that Robin sings beautifully, but the newer ones are solid too. Both of her soul records are great, and I can't really choose between Heart Of Memphis and Soul Flower. The pop-soul of The Looking Glass is better than most new music. You may have never heard of her, but that has nothing to do with her prodigious talent.