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By Bill Altreuter

I've been a fan of Nellie McKay since I heard "David" on WFMU right after it was released. I went out that weekend and bought "Get Away From Me", and we caught her set at UB when she came through town. For Christmas LCA got "Normal As Blueberry Pie", McKay's tribute to Doris Day, and last night I finally got around to playing it. Folks, this is an impressive record. There have been times when I've found McKay to be too cute by half, and it certainly would be easy to record a Doris Day tribute that would be unbearably arch. Indeed, it seems to me that the challenge must have been to avoid irony. Like Borges' Pierre Menard when we hear the originals we bring to them our own set of expectations. McKay does not, and as a result what we have on this set are interpretations that are remarkably fresh. It is also one of the best quality recordings I've heard in some time-- the thing doesn't just sound like it was recorded in Rudy Van Gelder's living room, it sounds like you are in Rudy Van Gelder's living room as it is being recorded.

Full post as published by Outside Counsel on February 11, 2010 (boomark / email).