'Better days' are in store for "The Music Spectrum"—literally and figuratively. With my mind concentrating on jazz music this week, I remembered I had wanted to do a feature on a lady whose music is still largely unknown to me—Dianne Reeves. In terms of mainstream popularity, I could put her in the same category of singers that includes the likes of Brenda Russell, Stephanie Mills, Meli'sa Morgan and Oleta Adams—they were all active in the late 80's and early 90's, but all had maybe one or two hits that people tend to remember. And in terms of music style, I had believed Dianne was a soul singer just like all four of these ladies when many years ago, I heard her sensational, inspiring number, "Better Days", playing on the radio. Instantly fell in love with it, but it was because of the jazzy instrumentals that served as the backdrop to the song. In my younger days, I didn't pay much attention to the meanings of the lyrics. Though these days, I try to digest each and every word, so each new listening to "Better Days" brings forth new understanding of Dianne's story that I didn't have knowledge of before. I'd eventually read, however, that Dianne had been billed as a jazz singer for all these years. The amazing sounds of "Better Days" should've made that plainly obvious, although there are a lot of old-school soul singers—Anita Baker, Jeffrey Osborne, James Ingram, Luther Vandross, Sadé, Chaka Khan—whose songs were infused with a great amount of jazz—especially Anita Baker and Sadé. So maybe, then, this wouldn't be plainly obvious to someone who'd only heard "Better Days" and nothing else on Dianne's self-titled album or anything else in her music career. Tuning in to "I'm O.K.", "I've Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" and the swingin' number, "Yesterdays", reveals greater elements of jazz than in "Better Days", further supporting the notion that she's a true jazz singer. Yet I'd still like to think she's a soul singer deep within whose voice happens to sound perfect with jazz music. Listening to more of her albums, which I do plan on doing, would most likely dispel that way of thinking. Still can't help but to notice the instrumental melodies on albums like this; there's a lovely piece lasting for more than a minute during the middle of Track #5's "Chan's Song (Never Said)" and another that takes you through the final moments of "Harvest Time". But nothing gets better than "Better Days"; I love this song so much that it could've remained as the only Dianne Reeves song I'd ever heard in my whole life and me not feeling the slightest bit guilty about it:
1. Sky Islands
2. I'm O.K.
3. Better Days
4. Harvest Time
5. Chan's Song (Never Said)
6. Yesterdays
7. I've Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
8. That's All
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