Carol King
Tapestry/Live
Ode/Epic/Legacy
By George W. Harris

So what is a 37 year old reissue doing here? Well, the fact of the matter is that most of the songs on this iconic 1971 album have been covered by jazz musicians. Secondly, the horn player on this session was none other than Curtis Amy, who put out some incredible jazz back in the 60s. Just check out his 3disc set from Mosaic Records to see what this cat was capable of doing. Anyway, songs like “Smackwater Jack”, “I Feel The Earth Move” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” have stood the test of time, and in fact all of these songs deserve to become part of the jazz canon. This lady has a feel for a melody that few modern songwriters can claim. The second disc, which consists of “solo” concert performances of almost every song from Tapestry, confirms this belief. Good songwriting didn’t end with Rogers and Hammerstein; this lady has given us some music to work with.