Oh Mother by Andrea Superstein
Motherhood as a lyrical theme often lends itself to saccharine sentimentality or humor born from the rigors of the maternal role. Canadian jazz vocalist Andrea Superstein finds a fresh way to convey multiple perspectives related to feminine parenthood on Oh Mother. She invested more than own personal reflections into the album's 11 songs—including a pleasantly recontextualized Fleetwood Mac remake. Superstein interviewed about 100 moms for inspiration, employed a children’s choir for one selection and utilized a sample of prenatal heartbeats for another. The layered arrangements and often tightly-composed pieces yield a warm, intimate statement that sensitively addresses a wide breadth of responses to bearing nurturing and raising children.
Superstein’s singing embodies an equally broad emotional pallet. Wonder, love and the gravity of responsibility that comes with realizing responsibility for another’s wellbeing animate both Superstein's songwriting and singing. The latter offers the intimacy of Suzanne Vega with Blossom Dearie’s suppleness (Supestein also shares Dearie’s affection for attention-grabbing eyewear). With Oh Mother, she has made a compelling album that speaks of her reach and ambition on what’s only her third album as an ensemble leader. Superstein lays down a gauntlet for a jazz-singing dad to wax as least as rhapsodically about raising kids.
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