Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There is no doubting the honest sincerity and vocal intensity that Nina Ferro gives in her latest album Into the Light. The heartfelt plea, the authenticity that surrounds the vocals supplied by a selection of musicians who seem to have fallen completely under the spell of the quite remarkable vocals and play as if that spell will never be broken is more than enough to make sure that this album is regarded with high esteem amongst jazz, rhythm and blues enthusiasts.
There is a natural tendency for the listener to focus on the voice when presented with someone whose vocal expression lends its self to an unforced and uncomplicated sensual display but without the contribution of Sam Hawksley and Rob McNelley and the rest of the very adept musicians, the voice, in other hands, might just have been lost in the abundance of thought and lyrical consideration. That lyrical consideration is captured wonderfully on tracks such as Plutonic Delirium, Look Speak Fall, Dangerous Move and Finish What You Started.
It is perhaps in the albums last track in which the voice of Nina Ferro comes completely into its own. All In The Name of God is a track which comprises the subtly of soaring vocals and the anguish of femininity, the question of male hierarchy within religion and what it turns female devotion to, both of the men in their lives but also the question of what deity would want their followers to ever suffer abuse in such hands. All In The Name of God is a track of honesty, of reflection and of a simple devotion to get a message across, in all aspects Nina Ferro succeeds wonderfully.
It may be the times we find ourselves in but 2013 has been a great year for jazz, the way it captures the feelings of many in times of hardship and suffering and their one chance to take themselves out of the way of adversity, even for just a short while, should be acknowledged. The effect it has on the conscious is enough to ensure that Nina Ferro joins the legion of 21st century jazz greats.
Ian D. Hall