(August 6, 2023) Dara Starr Tucker wrote her latest song “If You Asked Me To,” appropriately, because her husband and bass player, Greg Bryant, asked her to. Specifically, Bryant suggested that his singer/songwriter wife write a song that swings and is in 4/4 time.
“He had been telling me this for the longest time. Then he got a piece of paper and a pen and threw it down in front of me and said, ‘Write something!’ So, I did. I wrote “If You Asked Me To.”
The song that Tucker wrote is a sunny declaration of the lengths that she or any person would go to fulfill the request of some they truly love. Backed by a band that includes Mike Rhoades on piano, John Ellis on tenor sax, Stacy Dillard on soprano sax, Giveton Gellin on trumpet, Bryant on bass and Marcus Finnie on drums, “If You Asked Me To” does swing indeed.
The tune allows the players to wrap jazzy horn improvisations from Ellis and Dillard, and tight harmonies from the horn section around Bryant’s funk infused bass playing. Tucker’s vocals balance being precisely phrased, with the kind of soulfulness, innocence and optimism that sounds natural in a song about unconditional love and devotion. The cut is included on Tucker’s new self-titled album, Dara Starr Tucker. The 12-track project stands as another showcase of Tucker’s prowess as a songwriter and an interpreter of jazz, pop, and gospel standards. Check out Dara Starr Tucker’s “If You Asked Me To” here.
By Howard Dukes
Dara Starr Tucker - "If You Asked Me To"
