On her third studio album, Chicago vocalist Alyssa Allgood wields her instrument with depth, nuance & sophistication. Through refined interpretations of classics and the debut of four stunning originals, What Tomorrow Brings invites listeners on a personal journey of despair, determination and discovery.
Style. Substance. The music that matters invariably boasts one of the two. But when style and substance share the spotlight, in admirable balance and sure conviction, you’ve got something to remember.
Substance first: What Tomorrow Brings, her third album, reflects a couple years of enormous personal growth for Alyssa Allgood. New apartment, new jobs; a dedicated commitment to long-distance running; rigorous teaching of the jazz vocal tradition; and increased visibility beyond her Chicago base, with appearances in New York and Shanghai that have bolstered her confidence.
And then the pandemic. “I’ve had a lot more time alone, getting to know myself better,” says Allgood: “Time to be outside, to read, and to deal with moments of change and loss. They’re all opportunities to grow closer to who we are.” Allgood is still in her 20s, and despite her impressive self-possession, she’s still in process.
The substance of these songs reveals her deepening connection to life’s kaleidoscopic emotions, as does her placement of each song within the overall narrative. “I hope the listener will feel the harder emotions at the beginning,” she says, “and then a shift about halfway through [right around the beguiling “Time Found” and “Bridges,” the haunting Milton Nascimento classic]. And then comes the sense that we're getting into something uplifting – that even though what tomorrow brings is unknown, there's still hope.”
As for the style that animates this substance, it ripples with newfound depth and power. Allgood has systematically mined the music of her idols, including Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae, and Billie Holiday. They all funneled their considerable technique into making the words as meaningful as the melodies, and their example has steered Allgood toward greater nuance in service of storytelling. “I’m trying to make lyrical expression the focal point of what I'm doing,” she explains.
Give a listen to “This Bitter Earth,” where she bends notes and commands the rhythm to etch each twist of the dark/light lyrics. In her duo version of “For All We Know,” her rain-pure timbre and heartbreaking inflections dovetail with Mike Allemana’s genius for accompaniment. On “Passing Glance,” Allgood uses her lovely control of dynamics to bring the song into subtle bas-relief before a high-flying coda. But as her interpretative authority continues to flourish, she needn’t shout to tell every story; she can also whisper.
And on the eastern-tinged arrangement of “Mad About the Boy” (perhaps the album’s highlight), she does both. With liberal phrasing and tonal flutters, Allgood lets you see a raised eyebrow here, a rueful smile there – and finally, with daring swoops into the upper register, a level of passion that blows to hell the cool composure the lyrics strive to maintain.
Allgood works here with three of Chicago’s finest, all of them many years her senior, and she stands effortlessly with them in this compact, thrillingly interactive quartet. They too embody style and substance, either of which have propelled plenty of lesser bands. But put those two together and you’re in rare and wonderful company indeed. (Neil Tesser)
