Grp Records
2006
Life Less Ordinary
About This Album
Mindi Abair has been a force in pop and jazz since she moved to Los Angeles. When she signed to GRP she really made her mark as a solo artist. Life Less Ordinary is her fourth recording under her own name since 1999. She has toured tirelessly, played on dozens of sessions, and been a regular on smooth jazz radio and pop stations. Life Less Ordinary is the most diverse things she's issued. There's the taut, sheeny groove jazz she's become famous for on the funky opener "Do You Miss Me," with a vocal chorus and trippy keyboards and programming by producer Michael Hager. "Long Ride Home" is the album's standout track. One can plainly hear the influence of David Sanborn, Tom Scott, and Michael Brecker on her playing. It's a simple vamp that gives way to a slippery chorus. It's more a song than a jazz jam. The piece is tightly composed and arranged, and its groove is undeniable -- especially in the multi-tracked saxophones. The album's first surprise happens in her cover of Rickie Lee Jones' "It Must Be Love," from her Magazine album. Abair's treatment makes it sound like it came off a slick Nashville country version of Ghostyhead! With programmed loops by Hager, very hushed and nocturnal.
Track List (try tracks 2,4,6 and 9)

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