Dida Pelled – I Wish You Would
La Reserve – 2026
9 tracks; 41 minutes
Dida Pelled is based in Brooklyn and best known as a jazz guitarist, but here offers reinterpretations of nine blues (and jazz) classics. Dida handles guitar and vocals, Sullivan Fortner is on piano and Rhodes, Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wolleson on drums, all these musicians being well-known jazz players whose résumés include artists as diverse as Loudon Wainwright, Natalie Merchant, The Holmes Brothers, Norah Jones, Roy Hargrove, Bill Frisell and John Scofield. These are tunes that Dida and her band play regularly live and the result is a fascinating blend of cool jazz/blues with sultry vocals and an overall feel of teasing sensuality.
John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples” leads the way and was pre-released as a single with a video that everyone should check out online! Dida takes Hooker’s heavy style and transforms it into a light, danceable tune with a sexy vocal; watch out, you’ll find yourself humming this one all day long! “Hesitation Blues” is a traditional tune that has been recorded many times; readers may know it from the Hot Tuna version. Dida’s take on the tune harks back to Jelly Roll Morton’s version, her laid-back vocals sitting over a relaxed, jazzy soundtrack with rolling piano and brushed drums. “Sister Kate” dates back to 1922 and is believed to be an early Louis Armstrong composition, though it is credited to Clarence Williams; thematically it picks up on one of the themes of “Hesitation Blues” when it describes the young lady getting the boys excited with her dancing, making Dida sing that she wants to “shimmy like my Sister Kate”, leading her into a well-poised guitar solo and some angular piano stylings from Sullivan. Buddy Johnson’s “Since I Fell For You” crossed over into mainstream pop and is these days classed as a ‘Great American Songbook’ title. The band emphasises the ballad qualities of the song in a lovely, gentle version with every instrument playing its part in the interpretation, but do check out Dida’s terrific solo. “Rosa Mae” dates from a 1974 session late in the career of its writer, Mary Lou Williams. Played mainly as an instrumental with Sullivan switching to Rhodes electric piano for this one, Dida adds a short vocal towards the end, having found a rare set of lyrics for the tune.
Billy Boy Arnold’s “I Wish You Would” provides the title for the album. Dida’s version retains the stop-start style of the original, the Rhodes giving the tune an added urgency, Dida’s cool vocal style standing apart from the rest of the tune, an interesting reinterpretation of a blues classic which makes it hard to listen to without moving something! Another blues classic, “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” goes back to The Mississippi Sheiks in 1930, though many will know it from either Howling Wolf or Cream. Dida slows it down a fair amount but it still works well, guitar and Rhodes sitting quietly behind her vocal. A second visit to the Great American Songbook follows with “Blues In The Night” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer) and this one is more obviously in the jazz tradition than much of the album, Dida adapting the lyrics to include reference to her home town of Brooklyn. The album concludes with what is probably the least well-known song here, “Trouble” by Gladys Shelley; the song was recorded on an obscure album by Dakota Staton. Bassist Tony knew the song because he had played in Dakota’s band and suggested it to Dida whose very quiet version is just her voice and shimmering guitar, joined by Tony who switches from bass to guitar for this one while piano and drums sit it out.
This is a great album to listen to late at night. Its subtle rhythms and superb musicianship allow Dida to inhabit the songs and make them her own.
