Daphne Lee Martin’s latest CD Moxie is ten tracks of original music heavily influenced by the great blues, jazz, and Broadway vocalists of the early 20th century. That this music is so refreshingly modern at the same time is a testament to Martin’s talents as a songwriter and as an interpreter of her own material. She augments her old fashioned chanteuse delivery with elements of gypsy, hip hop, and folksie singer-songwriter flourishes. Martin’s torch songs are also augmented by modern instrumentation like synthesizers and drum programming.
Opening track “Sweet & Low Down” finds Martin singing in a sultry hush over a breezy synthesizer interpretation of a 1930s string section. A lilting saxophone melody and then a grinding electric guitar phrase complete the mood. All the while, Martin just moves along gracefully at a jaunty skipping pace, carefree, with a subtle sensuality that doesn’t let go of the listener’s attention.
“Whiskey & Sin” finds Martin delivering her sweet, sensual, and silky smooth timbre over something that feels at once like 1930 jazz and progressive electric guitar phrasing. Martin piano player hit’s the right notes in just the right places while her trumpet player blows a melody more than mildly reminiscent of 30s jazz. Martin certainly whips up a tasty arrangement, also, with an electric guitar expressing and sounding out emotional longing over a burbling, mournful organ line.
Sounding like a radio hit song, “Belly” travels along a trip hop groove while Martin sings it like a sexy jazz chanteuse from a much earlier period. That she makes these elements all fit seamless together is as impressive as her vocal range and expression. You picture a Harlem nightclub, a modern hip hop venue, and even a modern rock club as you take in all of the diverse elements sewn so well together here. “Belly” just doesn’t ever let go of you. It’s infectious beats makes you want to traipse over the dance floor in funky style as Martin hypnotizes with her breathy exhortations.
“House That Built Itself” swaggers along with a backbeat that carries a lot of fine touches about it. An electric guitar skips along with adept chord work beside a subtle keyboard sway. Effective but not overwhelming, the sounds ape creates the perfect platform for Martin to vocally sashay over. There’s a world weary cockiness in this vocalist’s attitude that injects so much sassy personality. Martin’s timbre oozes with color, tone, and mood. A sound effect plays an old fashioned radio announcer speaking through a standard era transistor speaker, plunging the listener deeper into Martin’s period piece music.
A feisty secondary set of drums plays a bouncy mesh of rhythm over a standard set of drums that manufactures a pushy beat in Martin‘s other hit potential “Molotov.” All of that skin smacking, like the brisk banjo interlude that follows, fills this number with abundant life and energy. You almost picture the singer jitterbugging to it between her verses, verses she delivers with an artful self-restraint. That she keeps her empowered vocal ability modulated and contained amidst this forceful music indicates her high talent level as well as her flair for knowing what makes a song work.
Martin slips into a chill vibe on “Faithless Beauty,” a down tempo breeze in which she trades lead vocal lines with Sam Perduta. The two have true suggestive chemistry in their battle of the subtle vocal glide. Trumpeter John Panos blows a wide storm of notes that creates the grand feeling of a mariachi band’s melody. The marvelous switching from male-female vocal glide to big horn melody are intensely suggestive and, again, you feel you’re in the hands of a brilliant arranger.
Martin jumps right into “Whispers” with an assertive vocal joust, singing over a faux reggae electric guitar progression. From there, the song just keeps adding fine touches. An obtrusive bass line decides to show itself in curiously important moments while organ and horn eventually create a thick, engaging sound out of their once scattered offerings. Martin’s breathy vocal lines sound larger than life as she sings through vintage microphones, ever so tastefully, measured dollops of beauty in a time period fashion that sound freshly modern while also respecting the old school influences.
“Friendliest Room In Town,” oddly enough, has an old fashioned melody and arrangement recorded on more contemporary equipment. The layers of organ and keyboard effects that usher it in feel comfortably familiar as they impress with their vintage soundscape. Martin brings her more sharper edged timbre to a jaunty, almost show tune peppiness. You can picture Martin singing this one while she acts out the scene on a vaudeville stage, coaxing this one along with confident seductiveness.
“Cheers, Darlin’” instantly builds interest with a whirling melody that suddenly vanishes, unveiling a light, spare, jazzy piano melody beneath Martin’s silky vocal assertions. She’s hauntingly effective singing over that quiet space. Then, her band mates chime in with an unusual combo of an eerie, chilling cello line, a slowly spiraling horn line, and a menacing, swampy drum beat. Martin sets so many flourishes in motion here and she creates so many moods that she elevates the artfulness of songwriting into the realm of composition.
Martin close out with the wide, rangy, sparkling melodic “A Little Bit.” This one makes you picture a jazz era couple picnicking in the park while their bright yellow Desoto remains parked beyond the gate behind them. Her upbeat lyrics and delivery are perfectly mirrored by generous offerings of horn, sparkling keyboards, and a whole lot more. She finishes the number with a loving vocal sustain that winds perfectly around her groove, closing out her CD on a very classy note.
Martin is not an ordinary singer-songwriter and her band are not your usual club musicians. Martin composes fulsome numbers that are vibrant with meaningful energy, abundant color, and mesmerizing artistic touches. Each number on this Moxie CD transports the listener to an earlier time period. Yet, there is a newness to these songs that will find them a home at almost any music venue. Producers William James Readey and Matt Thomas at Fuzzy Rainbow Production in New Haven are also due much of the credit for keeping things sounding so crisp and real on this album. Working with the best possible people around, Martin has come up with some startlingly fantastic music.