Germana Stella La Sorsa and Tom Ollendorff

“After Hours”

(33 Jazz 33Jazz312)

Germana Stella La Sorsa – vocals, Tom Ollendorff – guitar

I first discovered the singing of the Italian born, London based vocalist and songwriter Germana Stella La Sorsa at the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival.

She was leading a quartet in the foyer space at Cadogan Hall at an afternoon gig that formed part of the venue’s popular ‘Round About 2.30’ series of free events. Her band included three of the UK’s leading contemporary jazz instrumentalists, guitarist Tom Ollendorff, keyboard player Sam Leak,, and drummer Jay Davis. All had appeared on her then current album “Primary Colours”, which had been released in January 2024. Leak and Davis had also appeared on her debut, “Vapour” (2021), for which the guitar chair was filled by Nick Costley-White.

The performance at Cadogan Hall featured a mix of La Sorsa’s original songs, sourced from both the “Primary Colours” and “Vapour” albums, plus her imaginative arrangements of the jazz standard “If I Fall in Love” and the Frank Zappa song “Inca Roads”. Both of these innovative interpretations appear on the “Vapour” album. Meanwhile “Primary Colours” features her setting of the William Wordsworth poem “Daffodils”, released under the track title “Yellow”. My review of the Cadogan Hall performance appears as part of my Festival coverage here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/efg-london-jazz-festival-2024-monday-18-11-2024

I was able to speak with La Sorsa after the show and we have since continued to keep in touch via email. I am grateful to her for forwarding me a review copy of her latest release, a six song collection recorded in a pared down duo format with guitarist Tom Ollendorff.

At around twenty five minutes duration it’s a bit too long to be considered as an EP but then again it’s not quite a full length album. However sometimes less is more and it’s a nicely balanced collection that I prefer to think of as a ‘mini-album’. The material includes two La Sorsa originals, a couple of jazz standards and the duo’s interpretations of songs by The Beatles and by the Brazilian composer Pixinguinha.

I’ve monitored the progress of rising guitar star Tom Ollendorff since his days as a student at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff. During his time in Wales (around 2015) I was fortunate enough to witness him performing with a number of local and visiting jazz artists, among them fellow guitarist Deirdre Cartwright, pianist Atsuko Shimada and bassist Aidan Thorne’s band Duski. It was also in 2015 that Ollendorff was awarded a Yamaha Scholarship for outstanding jazz musicianship.

Since moving to London Ollendorff has continued to hone his craft and has become an increasingly significant presence on the British and international jazz scenes, appearing regularly at prestigious venues and festivals in the UK and across Europe  He has also worked with many leading musicians from North America.

Musicians from both sides of the Atlantic with whom Ollendorff has performed include saxophonists Geoff Simkins, Will Vinson, Helena Kay and Bill McHenry, drummers Ari Hoenig, Jeff Williams, James Maddren, Gene Calderazzo and Billy Pod, pianists Huw Warren and Nitai Hershkovits, vocalist Megan Thomas, bassist Or Baraket and fellow guitarists Dave Cliff and Dekel Bor..

Ollendorff’s regular trio includes bassist Conor Chaplin and drummer Marc Michel. This line up has released the albums “A Song For You” (2021) and “Open House” (2023), both of which appear on the Barcelona based Fresh Sound New Talent label. “Open House” also includes contributions from the great North American saxophonist Ben Wendel, of Kneebody fame. Both albums are reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann.

In May 2024 I was fortunate enough to witness a superb live performance by an Ollendorff trio featuring bassist Victor Nyborg and drummer Dave Ingamells at a Shrewsbury Jazz Network event at The Hive, Shrewsbury. The trio was augmented by the brilliant British saxophonist Tim Garland for a show that demonstrated just how far Ollendorff has progressed since I first heard him ten years ago. The trio performance with Garland is reviewed here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/artists/profile/tom-ollendorff-trio-with-tim-garland

La Sorsa and Ollendorff begin this ‘mini-album’ with their interpretation of “Because”, a song from The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. The duo have also released this track as a single and it’s a beautiful adaptation of a much loved song, commencing with La Sorsa’s fragile unaccompanied vocal as she sings the song’s opening lines. Ollendorff subsequently adds sympathetic guitar accompaniment, his playing calm and measured and always apposite and appropriate. He makes judicious use of the range of guitar sounds at his disposal, particularly during an extended dialogue with La Sorsa’s wordless vocals. Despite its apparent vulnerability La Sorsa’s singing is simultaneously assured and confident, necessary qualities in the intimate musical environment of the duo. She and Ollendorff have established an impressive musical rapport that is very much in evidence throughout the entire album.

The album’s second single is “Procida”, an Ollendorff / La Sorsa original. Apparently it is named after one of the Phlegraean Islands off the coast of Naples. The lyrics evoke the beauty of the titular island and the music has a suitably relaxed and sun drenched quality. But there’s a tinge of sadness too, the singer is remembering her time on the island and for all its beauty this is also a song of wistfulness and nostalgia. Musically the piece has something of the feel of a jazz standard and the delicate interplay between voice and guitar is again breathtaking.

Credited to Boyle / La Sorsa (presumably mixing and mastering engineer Joe Boyle) “In Time and (S)pace” commences with an extended passage of unaccompanied guitar from Ollendorff. Delicate and unhurried it fits perfectly into the aesthetic of the album as a whole. La Sorsa’s voice then combines exquisitely with Ollendorff’s guitar, whether delivering the lyrics or singing wordlessly.

The rest of the album features a selection of well chosen covers beginning with Pixinguinha’s “Carinhoso” which features La Sorsa singing in Portuguese. It’s a beautiful tune and another exquisite duo performance. La Sorsa and Ollendorff really do seem to function as a single entity. A brief passage of unaccompanied guitar, a ‘solo’ if you will, demonstrates Ollendorff’s mastery of Brazilian guitar styles.

Written in 1940 by pianist Avery Parrish and with lyrics by Robert Bruce and Buddy Feyne title track “After Hours” is a song that has been covered by many leading jazz artists, both vocally and instrumentally. Essentially it’s a “torch song” and the lyrics are delivered here with great feeling by La Sorsa in a subtly blues tinged arrangement that sees Ollendorff providing suitably sympathetic guitar accompaniment. There’s a suitably nocturnal quality about this particular performance but in many ways the album as whole represents perfect late night listening.

The duo sign off on a lighter note with a relaxed and joyous version of “Alice in Wonderland”, a jazz standard written by Sammy Fain and lyricist Bob Hilliard. This features some fun wordless vocalising from La Sorsa in addition to her confident rendition of the lyrics. The scat vocal and guitar exchanges are particularly engaging, as is a concise Ollendorff guitar solo.

It may be brief but in “After Hours” La Sorsa and Ollendorff have created something of a ‘mini masterpiece’. They deliberately keep the arrangements sparse and simple but still a bring an air of sophistication to the music. Ollendorff’s intelligent chording and comping offsets La Sorsa’s vocals perfectly and the pair have established an easy going rapport that is almost telepathic and which brings out the best in them. Her voice is a wonderfully flexible instrument that ranges through a variety of moods and musical styles and which is equally effective when delivering lyrics (in whichever language) or vocalising wordlessly.

This is a duo that I’d very much like to see performing live. They’d be a perfect fit for some of my local jazz clubs, I’m particularly thinking of Brecon and Black Mountain Jazz in Abergavenny here, and it would be good to see Ollendorff returning to Wales. I know the recording is short but I’m sure that these two have plenty more songs in their locker for a full length concert performance.

In the meantime “After Hours” is highly recommended and can be purchased here;
https://germanastellalasorsa.bandcamp.com/

 

 

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