Recording of the Week, Gretchen Parlato - Flor

After a brief hiatus from music, American vocalist Gretchen Parlato returns with renewed zeal on her first studio release in five years, Flor (‘Flower’). With collaboration credits spanning the likes of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Walter Smith III, Parlato began her musical career as early as 2005 with the self-release of her eponymous debut, later signing with independent label ObliqSound and releasing her label debut In a Dream with them in 2009. Though she now has five studio albums to her name, she’s been featured on more than eighty-four, a number to be proud of, to be sure. After a string of successful recordings all throughout the 2010s, including features on three Esperanza Spalding studio releases, Parlato took some time out from music before the birth of her first child. Naturally, Flor marks something of a comeback record for her, taking this opportunity to reflect on her newfound motherhood, as well as looking back to her own childhood with the musical influences on this record. Taking many cues from bossa nova, a genre she came across as a child while listening to her mother’s copy of Getz/Gilberto, as well as classical music, Gretchen Parlato’s latest recording is as much about her past as it is about her present.

Opening with ‘É Preciso Perdoar’, originally performed by Brazilian guitarist and vocalist João Gilberto, Parlato sings in both Portuguese and English as guitarist Marcel Camargo plays a traditional bossa rhythm, Artyom Manukyan’s cello providing both low-down bass counterpoint and some brief melodic flourishes. Manukyan’s cello ends up being a key sound on Flor, as he accompanies Parlato on her version of Pixinguinha’s ‘Rosa’, arranged for vocal and solo cello, as well as on ‘What Does a Lion Say?’. Interestingly, when Minuet I / II from Bach’s ‘Cello Suite No. 1’ appears, it begins with Parlato and Camargo as a curiously arranged vocal and guitar duet with cello and percussion entering later, likely one of the more left-field interpretations of the Suite I’ve heard. Parlato’s love of worldly rhythms continues to permeate tracks like the 1980s R&B song ‘Sweet Love’ with some fluid vocal syncopation, while the jovial ‘Magnus’ also makes use of dense percussion. ‘Magnus’ itself is dedicated to a child of Parlato’s friend, Magnus Thaddeus, who features on the song, providing vocals with his other family members in one of the unabashedly joyous moments on Flor, Parlato ruminating on her own familial bonds. The similarly joyful ‘Wonderful’ is almost sickly in its sweetness, its mid-section filled with self-affirmation, as Parlato is joined by a children’s choir repeating the chorus “I know I’m wonderful”.

Closing the record is ‘No Plan’, a song from David Bowie’s posthumous EP of the same name, yet another facet of Parlato’s varied musical upbringing. It makes for a sombre closer, Bowie’s haunting lyrics providing another chance for introspection. This track also features Parlato’s husband, Mark Guiliana on drums, whom you can also hear on the original Bowie recording. The song itself is another throwback of sorts to her past, a connecting thread that also gives us another side of her musical interests outside of bossa and Bach. Also joining Parlato on the album is pianist Gerald Clayton, appearing on ‘Sweet Love’ with some warm Fender Rhodes - breaking out into a smooth solo in the bridge. Gretchen Parlato’s return to music is a diverse one; both intimate performances reminiscent of the subdued Gilberto songs she draws inspiration from are side-by-side with joyous, rhythmic and life-affirming songs. Gretchen herself says the album is a “reflection of a time of putting myself aside and being completely present as a mom”, perhaps giving her a chance to reflect on her musical upbringing in full. Flor is not just an arresting listen but a brilliantly diverse one at that, and Gretchen really makes the material her own.