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Bliss Is Its Own Best Reward
By Melody Romancito
Taos News
Stephanie Lee sparkles in new compact disc recording
The best thing about winning is often not so much the winning,
but about being right. Stephanie Lee’s new compact disc
release, “Bliss is the Aftermath,” is a fine example
of the principle of winning, both in the gain and in the rightness
of it.
Bossy belligerent, pushy and loud – all words that guaranteed,
will come up in reference to women who know the irony of being
right – but not necessarily the elation of coming home
the winner.
And so, for Lee, the victory will seem doubly sweet. The album
is a wonderful piece of work – not only for her as a
musician, singer and songwriter, but also as a woman who will
not be silenced. Let alone the part about being right, all
along.
Some people get respect easily, and for little effort. Maybe
it’s their style, or their ability to work the slippery
beast of public opinion. But others have a struggle on their
hands the minute they set out to do anything, let alone something
so “out there” as performing in public.
I interviewed Lee a decade ago about her music. The crux of
the article was about how driven Lee was to make music. How
her car door was held together with a bungee cord, but she
had just bought a piano. In that decade, her creative fire
and the whirlwind feeding it has burned through has yielded
an effort that must be looked at from many angles to see it
for what it is.
Jazzy chords and intervals, complicated rhythm changes and
an unusual use of language have given the songs an arty feel.
That’s something few will risk in this neck (or any)
of the woods. But, heck, risk is nothing new to Lee, who risks
all and wins when she weaves songs with such energy, originality
and style.
It took two years for Lee to make this album. The drive and
the perseverance to accomplish it shows in every track.
The title song, “Bliss is the Aftermath,” is a
sweeping electric piano mood piece, with sad and floating
guitar atmospherics provided by Scott Kessin.
“The Colour of Losing You” is a bruised and victorious
neo-torch song about lost lover and living with and without
the fact of love. Saxophone by Peter Barbeau adds sweeping
blues and other nuances. One of the lyrics is so perfect in
its communication of loss and resolve. “There is not
one day that I send without you.”
“White Picket Fences,” and its attendant prelude,
“Demented Single Mother Party,” is feminist politics
at its most sarcastic and wry. Truly scary and powerfully
seditious, the piece is like a jazz and nearly spoken-word
fugue. The suite is dedicated to conservative political commentator
Rush Limbaugh and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich,
with a curse and a blessing.
Other songs on the album feature darkly gorgeous cello work
by Francis Hahn, drums by Lee Steck and Jordan MacHardy, harmony
vocals by Jenny Bird, harp by Julie Hawley, mandolin by Jimmy
Stadler and party music by Sticky Pistil.
Brad Hockmeyer, of KTAO-FM 101.9, has said of Lee that when
he listened to an early demo for the album, he was not expecting
such “original talent, vocal virtuosity and …
rich lyrical, compositions.” He added that “I
was very moved by the depth of her music and the sound that
was created by just piano and voice. I can only imagine what
her fully orchestrated album will be.”
We; we don’t have to imagine any more. The project has
been completed, and Lee can rest assured, she has come away
with a winner. She can also be assured that this proves she
has what it takes. And now she has proof. Watch out.
A release party for “Bliss is the Aftermath” is
planned today (Aug 26), 8 p.m., at Momentitos del la Vida,
on the patio. Joining Lee will be Barbeau, Bird, Melissa Crabtree,
MacHardy and Hawley. For more information, call 575-776-3333.
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