From Dusk ‘Til Dawn – David Bowling

This album arrived in my mailbox unannounced several weeks ago and has sat on my desk begging for a listen ever since. That time it was left abandoned was my loss, since I now rank this disc among my top ten releases of 2010.

Sass Jordan has been a star for a number of years in her adopted country of Canada. She began her career at the age of seventeen close to a quarter of a century ago as a member of the group The News and rose to fame as part of the New Wave band, The Pinups. As a solo artist, she consistently placed her releases on the Canadian music charts. She recently starred in the off-Broadway production of Love, Janis in the title role as Janis Joplin. Since 2003, she has served as a judge on the popular Canadian Idol television show.

Jordan has now returned with her latest solo release, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn. The music branches out in many directions: from soul to pop to straight rock ‘n’ roll. Ballads, up-tempo tracks and cover songs all inhabit this wonderful album.

The lead track, “What I Need,” immediately reaches out and grabs your attention. It is a percussion-driven rock tune with her vocal on top, and her vocal style sounds very much like a modern day Janis Joplin.

The second track veers in a Blood, Sweat & Tears direction, adding in a brass section as the dominant sound for the up-tempo “Fell In Love Again.”

The third track changes direction yet again as an acoustic guitar initially backs her on the simple ballad “Awake,” which then adds harmonies, piano, and drums as the song progresses.

There are a number of other cuts of note here. “Why Did You” places the emphasis upon her vocal and it soars, making for a melodic pop tune, while “Love N Affection” is a another smoldering pop outing. She gives a powerful performance on the Tom Waits classic “Ol’ 55.”

This is a rare disc where the different styles work well together and provide an interesting whole. From Dusk ‘Til Dawn is a very strong outing from veteran songstress Sass Jordan. My apologies for waiting so long before giving it a spin.

“