Garnetta Cromwell – Time To Shine
Self-release
10 songs – 40 minutes
Time To Shine is Canadian singer-songwriter Garnetta Cromwell’s debut release and is a very impressive soul/blues/R&B release. Featuring eight self-written tracks and two well-chosen covers, the album was recorded mostly live with a crack band of Toshi Otani (guitar), Mark Howe (bass), Robin Houston (drums), Sabian Crosswell (keys) and Juan Arce (tenor saxophone), together, DaGROOVMASTERS. Time To Shine also features an all-female horn section of Rebecca Hennessy, Colleen Allen, Carrie Chesnutt and Elena Kapeleris, backing vocalists Quisha Wint and Selena Evanageline, and producer Ken Whiteley added extra guitar, organ and backing vocals.
The album opens with a swinging tribute to Cromwell’s mother, “Miss Marva Ann”. The upbeat, dancing groove, glorious stabbing horn parts and optimistic, autobiographical lyrics are an excellent reflection of what is to be found on the rest of the album. Many of the lyrics on Time To Shine celebrate strong, powerful women, but “Open Jam (On Hess Street)” is a warm-hearted celebration of a local jam session. Cromwell is a superb soul-blues singer combining technical virtuosity with deep passion and humanity. Many of the songs have neat earworms of a chorus, for example on the funky “Weekend” or the irresistibly positive tongue-in-cheek “It’s A Woman World”.
Recorded at Casa Wroxton Studio in Toronto, with engineering by Nik Tjelios and mastering by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering, Time To Shine has a warm yet pristine sound and Whiteley has coaxed a series of impressive performances from the musicians. Solos are short and to the point and all the better for that, so even on “I Rise With The Sun”, which has guitar, sax and piano solos, the focus is on Crowell’s voice and in particular her assertion that this is her time to shine.
The two covers on the album fit seamlessly into the overall tone and messaging: Ruthie Foster’s “Singing The Blues” is given an organ-driven makeover with a great sax solo from Arce, while James Brown’s “Think (About It)” is neatly re-purposed to reflect a female perspective.
While the majority of tracks are upbeat, dancing tracks (in particular, check out the toe-tapping shuffle of “I Rise With The Sun” or the funky “Get Up & Get A Job), the album ends with the heart-achingly supportive soul ballad “Hey You Girl”, sung by Cromwell to one of her sisters. In many ways, it’s a perfect ending to a highly enjoyable album. It is clear that Cromwell is a major talent and it will be fascinating to see where this path leads her.
