Chords in Blue
Carol Robbins, Harp
By Darin Kelly, September-October, 2001
Those of you who have read this column in the past know that one of my pet peeves is the harpist (or any instrumentalist, for that matter) who releases a disc of an alternative genre of music just for the heck of it. Often, the results of a predominantly classical harpist recording a jazz or Celtic disc are catastrophic – the lack of true understanding of style eerily manifest. Happily, some discs come by which are terrific representatives of these styles. The difference is that these discs are invariably recorded by actual jazz musicians who might happen to play the harp. Such is the case with jazz veteran Carol Robbins’ latest offering, Chords in Blue.
The arrangements of a few standards and some original tunes are fresh and clean, and Robbins herself displays her big-time jazz chops. Her playing is unforced and natural, and she voices chords with a nice flair for logical progression. And, let it be said, Robbins can swing. Long a fixture in the Los Angeles jazz and pops scene, Robbins’ playing deserves to be heard. Her first-rate rhythm section lends additional credence to what really should be a rule of thumb for all harpists out there: don’t make a jazz record if you really don’t know what you’re doing. No question here: Robbins knows what she’s doing, and she’s doing it as well as anybody.