Lara Price – Half & Half
10 Tracks – 38 Minutes
Lara Price was abandoned at birth and became part of the Operation Baby Lift program that evacuated orphans from South Vietnam to the United States. She arrived in San Francisco in 1997 and immediately pursued her dream to become a singer. Her ambition carried her to tours across America and also to China and has resulted in this current album being her eighth release and her first on Mike Zito’s Gulf Coast Record label. Her 6th album, I Mean Business, garnered her a Best Soul Female Artist nomination at the 2017 Blues Music Awards.
The ever-prolific Kid Andersen produced, and as he routinely does, plays multiple instruments throughout the album including drums, guitar, bass and keyboards. The opening track on the album penned by Mighty Mike Schermer features Mike on guitar, alongside of Kid and Mike Zito also taking turns on guitar. The deep, sultry voice of Lara confirms that “We’re Still Friends” and asks that “we agree to disagree”. She follows that with a cover of George Jackson’s R&B song “Evidence” noting that “lipstick on your collar…is enough to put you away”. David Jiminez delivers some blazing guitar work followed by the sax of Dr. Matthew Maldonado. She gets the place jumping with some blistering rock ‘n’ roll with Baxter Robinson’s driving piano work on a cover of Jack Clement’s “Fools Like Me”.
“Things Ain’t Everything”, which was co-written by Mighty Mike and Marcia Ball appeared on Mike’s 2013 album. Lara offers a dynamic cover of the song again with Maldonado’s sax powering the music. She slows things down on the original ballad, “Rain” co-written by Lara and David Jiminez, who provides the guitar and Lara softens her vocals for a deeply emotional song. David and Lara also co-wrote the next song and provides an excellent duet on “Days Ago”, as two former lovers split up.
Lara takes a turn on a jazzy version of Duke Ellington’s “Solitude”, with Matt Burger offering an acoustic guitar. Lara demonstrates her capability as an old-school torch singer in the vein of Ella Fitgerald or Etta James. “The Way Love Goes”, another tune co-written by Lara, is a winning R&B number with her establishing that love “sometimes just requires time”. A cover of Ann Peebles’ “Trouble, Heartache & Sadness” is another old school soul number with backing vocals from Lisa Leuschner, Sue McCracklin, and Maureen Smith providing a Supreme’s-like group sound and with Baxter Robinson adding soulful keyboards. She ends the album with another George Jackson song, “Heart on a String”, which brings the album to a full circle with a high energy conclusion.
As noted, Lara demonstrates a wide range of vocal expertise ranging from jazz, blues, soul & R&B. Her voice bends to the styles demanded from each genre. She offers a definitive style that is worthy of every song on the album.
