Album Review: Liam Forde Reminds Us All, With His Debut CD Release, That It's GREAT TO BE HERE

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, Bobby Patrick, your rainbow reviewer is back in CD-Land to offer another broken-down breakdown of a new music release. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

Well, it has happened my rainbow children! We find ourselves with a review assignment that has us gilding a lily our colorful keyboard has already graced. Liam Forde's debut release, GREAT TO BE HERE, sports a song list of original music by Mr. Forde, all in his inventive jazzpoprockbroadway style, informed as much by his life in the theatre as it is by his studies at Boston Conservatory. Having been the reviewer on the scene for his release party (where he played through the album to the enjoyment of one and all) this review would seem redundant, if it were not for the varied experience of a lone listen, coupled with the originality of the music and the incomparable style of this reporter (wink, wink). "What's the difference between hearing it live or streaming, Bobby? " we can hear you shouting from the theatre stalls - well, we'll tell you. Hearing this music a second time, along with the added measure of familiarity, this solo experience with La Forde (sans a full house and his playful patter) gave the feeling that his warm and gracious voice was singing just to little Bobby. That dollop of intimacy reached the ears, creating greater attention to the music, and we found many nuances that eluded us in the live experience. That's not to say that seeing LF live was, in any way, inferior or vice re-versa to his CD, they were two different experiences with these tunes.

One thing that stands out this go-round is in the combination of the wonderful tracks 7 - 9, MRS. DUDLEY, GERANIUMS, and TOMATOES IN AUGUST. Hearing them in succession, one after another, they became a sort of "Garden Trilogy." MRS. DUDLEY is the modern jazz homage to Noel Coward (a hero of Forde's) about a retired garden slug who goes traveling because of munching a pot cookie. With its cool harpsichord layer and funny scat singing from "Mrs. Dudley," it's all Coward-esque in its amusing tone, yet with a very "today" jazz sound. Doobie Doobie Doo. GERANIUMS, a song to his window box, is a ballad of love, dedicated to the best that starving artists can do for greenery in our beloved NYC. Languid, liquid, and lovely, the need for nature in an urban setting sounds out a true heartsickness for spring. The gorgeous TOMATOES IN AUGUST (probably Bobby's favorite on the album) tells of a young boy's first gardening experience, with a tomato, and its life bursting into the world. As Mr. Gilbert wrote, "A vegetable love excites his languid spleen," and has him dreaming of salted tomatoes in August which sounds SOOOO good, but that's only part of it. This part 3 of the garden trilogy is the whole process of life, growth, and nourishment - something Forde and all the rest of us craved during the months of pandemic isolation out of which all of this music was born.

Hearing his final cut, GRATITUDE SONG, again reminded us of the effect this spritely tune had on the live audience while clarifying why that audience was so enthusiastic about it. Slick, smooth jazz poetry and music, plus Liam's sweet vocals that truly typify gratitude in such a bouncy and fun way, they simply reach through the speakers, and his super cool vocal Boo Bops create true foot-stomping fun. Finally, listening to cut 4, PLAZA HOTEL, all alone really brought the words home. Solidly modern jazz in sound and feel, using Forde's impressive range in controlled intonations, this fun, jazzy song about writing a fun, jazzy song is a perfect meta composition... i.e.: "If one more person calls a major 7th cute!" His callout to Eloise at the Plaza solidifies him as a transplant who has become a true New Yorker. In fact, every bit of GREAT TO BE HERE is so VERY New York City from start to finish that Bobby has no choice but to grant this fab jazz outing his full...

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows - Put this one in your queue on your Spotifies: HERE

Liam Forde Spins A Webby: HERE

You Can DL GREAT TO BE HERE (or gift-give this December) On The iTunes: HERE

Check Out His Insta-Pictograms: HERE

Ande Followe On Ye Olde FaceBooke: HERE

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