Rattle the Walls
Artist: Alex Nester
Label: Squeelo

Without hearing her in advance, seeing Alex Nester perform might come as something of a surprise. A petite blonde (i.e., white) white gal sits at her keyboard, and then... Whoa!

Nester's debut fits her bluesy soulful soprano around songs of general self-acceptance & affirmation, the love Jonesing about which so much R & B explicates and...her Christianity. The combination may remind listeners of the great and underrated Chi Coltrane, at least listeners with memories and/or record collections extending back about 35 years.

Nester, however, has her own uniqueness. Older school urban and gospel influences reconcile with  jazz leanings as she breaks into occasional scat singing or melodramatic flights of fancy reliant on vocal inventions divas playing the Apollo or a church in the 'hood likely wouldn't dare try.

Over the course of a generous 15 songs, Nester's rich larynx and arrangements that correspond to her vocal influences (plenty of horns, strings, keyboards) threatens to overwhelm in their variety and depth.  The overt funkiness and looseness of groove gets a respite at album's end as she enlists The Four Tops  for a remake of their classic "I Can't Help Myself." The stridency of Nester's Motown riff-age  backing guys-including bro' in the Lord on drums, Zoro-gives her tighter musical parameters around which to work her wonders. Another Wonder from the Motor City, Stevie, receives a worthy tribute as Nester strings together snippets of a few hits on "Sir Stevie."

She also gives due to those closer to her own pigmentation who have tread R & B/soul terrain. She delivers a superior rendition of The Four Seasons' "Beggin'," recently a hit to lesser effect for English hip-hop duo Madcon. And though Al Kooper's/Blood, Sweat & Tears' "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" has been revisited by numerous acts, Nester's ferocity makes it as much her own.

Her originals (sometimes co-written with her husband), however, are where she gets most eclectic, as her melange of influences mingle to make a sound that could be welcome on adult R & B, soul gospel, CCM and adult contemporary radio. For a self-released and produced project, Nester's tuneage has enough sheen to merit national attention. That she's based in Los Angeles should work in her favor.

Though another producer or two could tighten up her sound a mite, one hopes that outside forces wouldn't force her into the pre-existing molds for pop music female soloists.  You might as well catch her while her "Whoa!" factor is raw and in tact.

Jamie Lee Rake