ABIAH - Bottles (2016)

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    ABIAH - Bottles

    His compositions are moving, his lyrics are searing and his vocal range is such a many-splendored thing the intensity of which will make your ears throb and your heart ache. Jeremiah ABIAH is, simply, a man who teaches, creates, elevates and oozes the gift of music. A vocal coach who nurtures and edifies the vocals of both independent and established recording artists, the native New Yorker broadened his fan base and left fans spellbound with his 2014 collective, Life as a Ballad, and continues to expand on his enviable catalog with his latest set, Bottles.

    ABIAH - Bottles

    His compositions are moving, his lyrics are searing and his vocal range is such a many-splendored thing the intensity of which will make your ears throb and your heart ache. Jeremiah ABIAH is, simply, a man who teaches, creates, elevates and oozes the gift of music. A vocal coach who nurtures and edifies the vocals of both independent and established recording artists, the native New Yorker broadened his fan base and left fans spellbound with his 2014 collective, Life as a Ballad, and continues to expand on his enviable catalog with his latest set, Bottles.

    Free of bombast, but full of resonance, Bottles may feel a bit more ‘mainstream’ than Ballad:  not because ABIAH jam-packs rap cameos, a Timbaland track or  other unnecessary ostentatiousness, but because the subject matter is more universal; two familiar favorites are refashioned to a tremulous degree and there’s a glimmer of sunshine within ----Avery’s, that is. But what stands out, as usual, is the awe-inspiring originals and the vigor, along with the vulnerability, that he pours into each one.

    “So In Love With You” is a languidly-paced, nearly melancholy number, but features shattering high notes that would make Philip Bailey and Mariah Carey jealous. That sunlit song with Ms. Avery, “Darling Be Mine,” is a sensual, lilting ‘come hither’ duet, ripe with an elegance, tenderness and ‘old-world’ level of courting that most in the ‘new world’ can’t imitate or imagine.

    As compelling as ABIAH’s originals can be---the mid-range, yet galvanizing inspirational mantra “Little By Little,” for example,  and the haunting void conveyed in “Gone”----his artistry is also demonstrated by the intriguing approach he applies to Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” (titled here as “What’s Love”), making it more bewildered by the emotions than brash, and his take on Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love” is one that combines a rarified blend of earnestness and obsession: ABIAH’s crooning whisper of the refrain “Got me hoping you’ll page me right now/ your kiss got me hoping you’ll save me right now ” feels like a lonely drive around the block with torturous memories riding shotgun as a half-empty bottle of wine sloshes around under the passenger seat, not a raucous demand to feed a consuming desire (okay, keep pretending you’ve never been in that position before, I’ll wait)…..but his rendition definitely still moves you.

    The centerpiece of a recent NYC live performance release party, Bottles is not just another well-done CD by another gifted performer. It’s a downloadable ticket into exploring one of musicality’s purest and most powerful exhibits, an anthology that proves what cultivating authentic artistry can achieve and why examining its scope, as purveyed by ABIAH, is such a rewarding endeavor to fulfill. Highly Recommended.

    By Melody Charles