Word: ballads
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...prayer." The album begins playfully with Maybe, a Strayhorn rarity written for Horne, and she gives it an easy swing that belies its hard-won wisdom ("Love is a shoestring/ Any way you tie it, it may become undone ...") Next comes Something to Live For, the great Strayhorn-Ellington ballad about having it all without having love, which Horne suffuses with trembling vulnerability. She's raucous and tough on another worldly Strayhorn number, Love Like This Can't Last. And with beautiful enunciation, she finds the quiet essence of Strayhorn's somewhat precious A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing...
There is little left of the sultry vocal finish Horne possessed back in the '40s and '50s. Today her voice reveals its grain, like fine old furniture. Nevertheless she can still sustain with silky ease a long-lined ballad like the album's dreamy title song or the touching finale, My Buddy. How has Horne kept her voice in such good shape? She laughs. "You mean through the postnasal drip? I don't sing in the shower, and I never vocalize -- it's too embarrassing. I only sing when I have to do a job. Then, to prepare...
...Mere (To My Mom)," a French ballad with a soothing acoustic-guitar rhythm, features the best aspects of Adjaffi's voice. Although he shows a limited vocal range in "Revolution," Adjaffi is generally able to disguise his limitations by straining his voice...
...Paradiso" is the most complete song on "Passion." After an initial burst of conga drums, Adjaffi switches effortlessly from an up-beat reggae rhythm to a soft ballad...
...English and French version of "My Village," a warm, tender ballad, Adjaffi recalls his native land and the beginning of his singing career. He ends the song: "I remember," seemingly a promise to not let go of his past...