Album Review of
Beautiful Souvenirs

Written by Robert Silverstein
July 21, 2020 - 3:12pm EDT
Review Rating Star Review Rating Star Review Rating Star Review Rating Star Review Rating Star

Delving into the Great American Songbook, Vermont-based vocalist Bidi Dworkin has assembled a fine selection of timeless and always timely tunes on her 2020 album, her debut release, Beautiful Souvenirs. The CD is well packaged and the insightful liner notes by Bidi shine a light on her continued fascination with classic jazz vocal music and folk-based pop. A definite highlight on this breezy 54-minute album is Bidi's cover of Joni Mitchell’s 1966 folk music classic “Morning Morgantown”. The fact that many of these song favorites were written decades before Bidi was even born shows her clear reverence for chestnuts from 20th-century pop and jazz music history. Speaking about the choice of music on her album, Bidi says, "Each of the twelve tunes on the album are simply songs that I've grown to love over the years... and a few more recently. My dad was a bandleader and played sax - he was a physician / musician. I grew up listening to certain tunes like "Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise". The setting for Bidi's elegant musical foray is a classic acoustic jazz trio sound featuring Eric Hangen (piano), Claire Arenius (drums) and Steve Cady (bass), which gives the sound even more of a timeless vibe. Recorded in picturesque Vermont, the 12-track Beautiful Souvenirs is a tastefully recorded album of ageless vocal jazz featuring the upbeat sound of Bidi Dworkin.