Promises, Prayers, and Raindrops: Allyson Briggs Sings Burt Bacharach

Vintage vocalist extraordinaire ALLYSON BRIGGS has released her new album Promises, Prayers, and Raindrops: Allyson Briggs Sings Burt Bacharach on CD and in digital and streaming platforms. Promises features 20 tracks that created the soundtrack of American life in the 1960s, combining household-name Bacharach and David classics that have been making people smile for generations, with several catalog deep cuts that will thrill music aficionados. Briggs, serving as bandleader and star vocalist, is expertly supported by music director Andy Warren on trumpet, James Navan and Jason Yeager on piano, Michael O’Brien on bass, Shareef Taher and Peter Traunmueller on drums, and Broadway luminary Julie Benko (Funny Girl, Harmony) as guest vocalist.

Promises, Prayers, and Raindrops features Briggs’s subtle yet sophisticated interpretations which reinvigorate beloved hits “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Walk on By,” and more. Briggs remembers: “These are gems that I stumbled upon after paying tribute to Ms. Lee in a concert at Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein. As you may know, Michael is an encyclopedia of long-lost musical treasures, and he inspired me to find a connection from Peggy to Burt. In my search, I discovered the uncharacteristically jazz standard-styled ‘Uninvited Dream.’ As I continued to hunt for Bacharach/Lee collaborations, I was intrigued by the unknown title ‘My Rock and Foundation.’ I even had to transcribe the lyrics myself because as of 2022, they were nowhere to be found online.”

As someone who sings in seven languages, Briggs puts her German to good use in the dramatic “Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte,” the Friedrich Holländer song which Bacharach arranged for Marlene Dietrich when he was her touring music director. “As I learned more about Burt’s early days in the music business,” Briggs says, “I read about his strong friendship with Dietrich. He worked as her music director in Europe, and truly adored her, so he worked to enhance her classic arrangements for more contemporary audiences. Marlene was one of the first people in the industry to believe in Burt and his unique style, so to honor their connection, we were inspired to record this.”

“I’ve never met a person who could sit still listening to Burt Bacharach,” comments Briggs. “It’s such engaging music. Whether you are a professional musician in awe of his unusual meter or a casual listener enjoying the classics over a glass of wine, it is simply quality music that makes you feel good. With lyrics most often penned by Hal David, you’re in for a roller coaster of emotions that somehow leaves you feeling uplifted, even after the most heart-wrenching ballads. I dove into Burt’s catalogue during the pandemic, and I appreciate the opportunity to immerse myself in this music. Artists cannot force inspiration, so it percolated until I created the tribute concert in 2022, which debuted at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael, in Carmel, IN.”

“I wanted to maintain the integrity of the original songs,” she concludes. “I hope to bring this amazing body of work to a new audience but let those who were there the first time around enjoy those memories in a new way. Burt Bacharach is where jazz became pop: He was very heavily jazz-influenced, and it shows when we dig into these arrangements. We are playing this album as a jazz quintet, because my band, Fleur Seule, is a jazz band. I wanted to pare it down to an intimate level, to highlight the intricacies of the arrangements, the depth of Hal David’s lyrics, and to show how these songs can be enjoyed whether it’s a studio orchestra or small combo.”

(Available at fleurseule.com.)