Written by Out of the Question is the last album of the jazz vocalist Allegra Levy released on the 20th May 2024 with SteepleChase Records. Levy, a Connecticut native now based in New York, was named one of the Top Ten Rising Stars among jazz vocalists in Downbeat’s 2021 Critics’ Poll and has played in most of the top jazz venues in NYC such as the Jazz Standard, the Blue Note, Bridland Theatre, Zinc Bar and the Bitter End and has won numerous prizes such as the Great American Song Contest’s Adult Contemporary Music category (2019). Levy was also finalist in the International Songwriting Competition’s Children’s Music category in 2023. Levy graduated from New England Conservatory, and she is part of the leadership of the Women in Jazz Organization.
Her new album Out of the Question is composed entirely of songs in search of answers, from “Where Are You Going?” to Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”. The band is composed by jazz stars such as Carmen Staaf on piano (winner of the Mary Lou Williams jazz piano competition, musical director for DeeDee Bridgewater), Allison Miller on drums (Boom Tic Boom, ARTEMIS), and Mimi Jones on bass (voted No. 2 Rising Star jazz bassist in Downbeat’s Critics’ Poll – Beyoncé, Dianne Reeves, and DeeDee Bridgewater), with special guests Roxy Coss on sax, Aubrey Johnson on vocals, and Andrew Baird on guitar.
Levy said that the concept of the album is about exploring the questions that all we have during our life, and that it is not so important to have an answer for them. The songs in this album vary from jazz standards such as “Are you real?” and “Que Pasa?” for which Levy wrote beautiful lyrics, to a jazz cover of the iconic tune “Should I stay or should I go?”, to the two original compositions “What’s In a Name?” and “What Are You Waiting For?”. The last one contains a very powerful message to all the young women on the music scene: to “make your own dreams” and not wait for someone to give them to you (Levy).
All the songs have in common the fact that they are all beautifully arranged and very evocative: they bring the listener immediately to New York’s atmosphere and cocoon them with it. In each song, Levy’s warm voice dialogues with the other instruments: with the saxophonist Coss in “Are you real?” or with the double bassist Jones in “What are you waiting for?” or with the drummer Miller in “Que Pasa?” and “Will you still be mine?”, creating a rich texture of voices. Remarkable is also the soprano saxophone solo by Coss in “What is this thing called love?” and her interplay with the pianist Staaf, which is brilliant and very energetic. As Levy said, making this album without these fantastic musicians would have been Out of the Question.
Levy dedicates this album to her children but I think that the sweetness, the energy and the beauty of it can be a dedication to every person whose life is full of questions that, as Levy says, sometimes are difficult to answer. Out of the Question is now available on all major digital platforms (Spotify, AppleMusic, Youtube, Amazon).
Click here for Allegra Levy website
Photography by Michael William Paul
Last modified: August 26, 2024
