It’s love that leaves us unfinished — not this record. This is a full, confident debut.
Rebecca Rafla Music
Rebecca Rafla – vocals and flute; Steve Allee – piano; Kenny Phelps and Richard “Sleepy” Floyd – drums; Patrick Wright – guitar; Jesse Wittman – bass; Rob Dixon – saxophone; John Raymond – trumpet; Brian Pattison – trombone; Kathryn Hershberger, Yoonhae Swanson, Anna Czerniak, Rachel Patrick – strings
Fundamentally Unfinished is a strange title for a debut this sure of itself. Rebecca Rafla wrote six of the ten songs herself. She picked a group of Indianapolis players who sound like they’ve been backing her for years, and she varies who’s playing with her from song to song. A trumpet shows up later on the record. There’s tenor sax and guitar solos throughout. Strings show up on three tracks. This is Rafla’s record, start to finish.
Her voice is the reason to stick around. Impressive diction, a sweet tone, barely any vibrato — what little there is usually shows up at the end of a phrase, like she wasn’t sure you needed it. On “I Love You I Do (I Do)” she sounds like she means every word, looking right at you while she sings it. “Without You” has a laid-back groove with a syncopated bass, steady drums, and Rafla adding her own background vocals. The tenor sax sits right alongside her voice, never in the way. She likes words — piling them on so thick at one point that they bunch against the beat, pushing the tempo along.
She’s got real range, and “Sunday” is a good example of it. Guitar and piano settle in together under light cymbal washes, and she sounds relaxed, introspective — singing to herself more than to the room. The strings, a perfect addition to the song, seem to push her to sing harder, and she belts a little more here than she has so far.
Rob Dixon’s sax sounds especially good on Cole Porter’s “I Love You,” his tone complementing her voice. “Sweet Nothings” swings on a light stride piano. The trumpet doesn’t show up until “The Very Thought of You” — beautiful playing. Strings swell underneath, then fall back to a whisper. “Little Boat” sounds like something from the fifties, a Latin rhythm with lots of percussion, a laid-back piano solo, and a verse sung in French. A jaunty and upbeat “What A Difference A Day Makes” closes things out. Rafla plays with the time, holding onto a phrase longer than you’d expect, a muted trumpet answering her in short bursts.
By the time it’s over, you get what she means. It’s love that leaves us unfinished — not this record. This is a full, confident debut.
