John Allee
Past Imperfect
(Portuguese Knees Music)
April 10, 2023
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
John Allee is a vocalist, songwriter, pianist, and I gather, actor. His latest recording, Past Imperfect, is comprised of 17 original tracks of jump-blues, jazz, pop, and ballads; they have appealingly literate lyrics, yet they manage to be diverse. Allee has a light voice (but not wispy) that has soft, slightly sandy edges and a natural lilt. In another era, one might have called him “hip.” The arrangements are unfussy but intriguing enough to stand alone and to serve the lyric and the mood. “The Old Hat,” for example, couldn’t be simpler; the music and musicianship are compelling.
“I am the constant/You are the free” he sings in “Like.
” The song’s music arrives as pattering rain (as does the metaphor-filled lyric.) Mike Schnoebelen’s bass provides musical spine. Jeff Kaye’s trumpet is tender. “Hard Sell” and the rat-a-tat-repetitive, backed-with-brass “Get a Job” are up-tempo, 1940s-like offerings with tight, clever, contemporary rhymes. They evoke images of the era of the jitterbug.
“Constant Storm of Jupiter” and “Truth Be Told” are ballads.
“How do I get through to her?
” Allee asks in the first of these with a querulous whisper. “When you’re ready, I’ll be waiting/On the grid here down below.” The piano is muffled, and the vocal is sotto voce as if listening to dew appear. “I’m not that different from the average guy/Love was a luxury that I could not afford” he mourns in the second of these accompanied by Adam Bravo’s lush, sensitive piano.
“Let’s All Go Up There” is a gung-ho modern spiritual. “Past Imperfect” emerges streetwise and philosophical. “I’ll never outlast my imperfect past, past perfect/It conks me like a dealer on the street/Kicks me to the curb at the sign of any heat.” Cool, right?
“Creatures of the Tried” is a freshly couched, age-old complaint: “You treat me like a stranger, and I have to wonder/Am I just another feather in your Panama hat?” “Those Letters” asks “Why don’t you let me read a letter that I wrote you in high school?” Javier Vergara’s terrific sax and Kaye’s melancholy trumpet buoy what is in essence a short story, wry and real.
My favorite cut is “Until the Money’s Gone,” a stride-and-shuffle blues conversation between vocal and brass with subtle back-up vocals and Bravo on rhythmic piano. My foot taps on its own. The song is timeless. A few other songs are less effective, but the CD is predominantly a good and interesting listen.
