Jaymay is a singer-songwriter in the style of Steve Forbert, telling a story with whatever words will do the trick. With Forbert, it just seemed to work and you remember it decades later, wordiness and all. Jaymay does the same and keeps a hook in you, enough to pull you back for another listen. Her debut Blue Note album, Autumn Fallin’, is a title that tells you what kind of experiences you’re in for once you slip inside.
The album begins with a lot of promise in the heart of a well-delivered song, “Gray or Blue.” The magic of that song doesn’t seem to really stretch in for the next few songs although the charm of the music is enough to make up the difference. The music is simplistically full of regrets, under girding the songs with the intended feelings of love lost, sadness, and of a bookmark placed at the wrong part of the book where life is concerned.
The trail is picked back up with the beautiful “You’d Rather Run,” another bit of Forbert-like wordiness that drills into your heart and refuses to leave. By the end of the album, you have a new name in your mind to remember. Jaymay will be a singer that I remember decades from now, wordiness and all. Write, Jaymay, write…
I cannot wait for her next album.
