Live Covers

Excellent work as always guys - DAZ-I-KUE BUGZ IN THE ATTIC

nice one thanks sounds great, particularly like windmills, super hypnotic - will put it in my seance pile to play on the next show - PETE WIGGS SAINT ETIENNE

If I walked into a cool LA venue (or anywhere in the world for that matter) and you were performing this lineup I'd be transfixed. Haunted jazz folk arrangements of some well chosen, spectral classics. The drums, harp, acoustic guitar, double bass, flute and Sheila's ethereal vocals weave in and out of each other in a dreamlike, surreal + Lynchian way. This is a lovely direction. Keep going & let me know when the tour starts! - ALAN GUBBY BURIED TREASURE

All beautiful. Will there be vinyl released? It needs to be on vinyl … I’ll share tomorrow and I’ll be asked the same question. Well done all of you. Already 9 of my friends want footprints! - NICK HOSIER STOMP RADIO

feeling this large thanks massive will support everywhere i can - LEE BRIGHT BBE / TANGENTIAL MUSIC

really like this.. will play on the radio for sure! thanks - HARV NAGI OUTERNATIONAL SOUNDS / POINT BLANK FM

many thanks Richard. cool that you thought of me. great band and....river man, always welcome in versions. soon in one of my shows. - ROBERT LOCHMANN RADIO X (FRANKFURT)

Listened! In one word: Beautiful! Annabel-(lee)-ed versions of great originals. The beautiful and unique voice of Sheila lingers perfectly in the warm bath of virtuoso musicians. What a variety of originals! Jazzing up the avant garde of David Bowie, the folk of Nick Drake, the chanson of Michel LeGrand and making a Wayne Shorter classic a song with fitting lyrics... This Annabel (lee) EP is out of this world - KOERT SAUER LIQUID SOUNDCLASH (NETHERLANDS)

Annabel (lee) are husband and wife duo Sheila and Richard Ellis and their latest release is a 4 track EP of live covers called 'Live Covers' which was recorded 'live' in LA. The four tracks are well known being 'Blackstar', one of Bowie's most atmospheric and haunting tracks, 'River Man' (Nick Drake's classic that's equally atmospheric and haunting), 'Windmills' (Michel Legrand's big pop hit and the recently passed Wayne Shorter's (RIP) most popular, 'Footprints' (with original lyrics by Sheila). As any undercover agent will tell you, it's all about the added value and this large band with harp, flute and cello certainly adds a large amount to this project along with Sheila's words/vocals (she trained in New York with Andy Bey!) We've recently seen that the electric guitar is much under-used in jazz (see Enrico Le Noci's 'Electric Nuts', review HERE with covers of 'Voodoo Chile' and 'Maiden Voyage') and Eric Klerks rocks out on 'Footprints' with Sheila doing her best ship wrecked ghost siren with the violin in 1930s swing with that harp; what was I saying about - GERRY BAYLEY UNDERCOVER

Fiercely creative musicians like Sheila Ellis and Richard E — collectively known as Annabel (lee) — will always grab my attention. And the group’s ability to show the world another unfamiliar property of their musical superpowers with every release made me ask a near-rhetorical question a few months ago: “What’s next?” Live Covers, the duo’s latest release, is obviously not their tailor-made response to my thoughts, but they found another way to surprise me. And I’m sure that I’m not the only one. A smoking-hot eight-piece band that includes Richard E playing acoustic guitar accompanies the duo’s uncommon exploration of covers from four universally praised contemporary composers: David Bowie (“Blackstar”), Nick Drake (“River Man”), Michel LeGrand (“Windmills”), and Wayne Shorter (“Footprints”). While I’m confident that Annabel (lee) could have chosen virtually any four tunes to knock out of the ballpark, their song choices reflect an exciting similarity in how all four songs — through poetic verse, rhythmic transitions, or rich emotion — represent introspective documents from each legendary artist. I had never heard the duo perform post-bop jazz and had no expectations before pressing the play button, but I remain stunned by their treatment of “Footprints”. This uptempo version builds tension that transitions to silky and focused releases — while I slowly found myself lying in a pot of boiling water. An element of the original composition’s brilliance lies in how it brought together multiple African diasporic patterns, which is not lost in Annabel (lee)’s vision. The band seemed to have a ball exploring how much they could play with rhythm in one song. I’ve previously written about how Richard E and Sheila Ellis’ compositions contain an appealing Nick Drake element, so I was pleasantly amused to hear their take on “River Man”. Pain shouldn’t sound this good. Their version loses none of the original’s emotional grip, and Ellis brings the right kind of vocals to add a new level of harrowing engagement. Covering Bowie can be controversial and filled with immediate rejections by the star’s beloved worshippers — particularly when referring to a song released just two days before Bowie left the planet. “Blackstar”, like the other songs on Live Covers, retains a heaping dose of the artist’s somber self-reflection. Annabel (lee) deftly treats this cover by not matching the song’s extended mood-change sequence and offers just enough length to feel more like a tease, if not a groove-inducing tribute. Conversely, “Windmills” takes the form of a complex and slow-moving dreamscape — not a challenge for this band — and, like the original version, its tonality captures an ambivalent set of emotional statements that can find a comfortable place in TV and film scores. Once again, my highest praise for music is reserved for releases that deserve to be played now and years later. Annabel (lee), through Live Covers, presented us with a gift that will reward our ears for a long while. - BAYE KAMBUI MENTAL UNREST

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