Omnivore's Delight 9: Rachel Lauren

posted in: Features • Pop

Its not about how many notes or beats you have. If you have people feeling something, feeling what you are feeling, that’s what jazz is about. “ Rachel Lauren

Jazz standards and their indelible style will always remain, the question is where. Will they continue their downward decline out of the public eye and into nothing but historical record? Or will they witness some sort of resurrection and have their beauty launched back into the pop realm? If the answer is to be the latter option, then consider Rachel Lauren the slingshot.

A beautiful, 21-year-old slingshot that is. Judging by her looks one might assume she’s another twenty-something pop starlet singing vocals doctored with auto tune supported by an ensemble composed of digital loops. Think again, my friend. Singing jazz standards originally recorded many decades before she was born, Ms. Lauren and her ensemble inject a modern vibe so refreshing that the tunes would be nearly unrecognizable if it weren’t for their titles. Though originally recorded by Julie London in 1955 without percussion, Lauren’s Cry Me a River is full of catchy guitar riffs spread over a Latin groove. Check out the video for Cry Me a River here. Originally a show tune from Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms, Lauren’s rendition of the famously mocking My Funny Valentine features a wah-ing guitar at a slow and sultry tempo. Similarly to the original, the sound of this tune is completely serious until the lyrics make their entrance.

There’s no doubt that Rachel is fantastically talented, but whether or not she can do something to revive the nearly lost art form to remains unseen. Her performance and awards résumé make up nearly half of her profile page, but the majority of attendees at these events are the usual suspects: elderly jazz enthusiasts at black tie functions. Should she make the conscious decision to step foot inside the mainstream music bubble with some material bridging the jazz-pop gap, she’s well equipped and probably has more support from pop music fans than one would assume.