The young talent continues to flow these days and the debut album from saxophonist Elizabeth Mis will make you smile. With the production and writing skills of Nate Harasim along with Darren Rahn, there is a lot here to enjoy.
The title track kicks everything off with a fast pace number that I’m sure you will hear for a while to come. The funky background riffs only play as a nice contrast to the soaring sax. This one does just as the title indicates, and breaks you away to some place different. It doesn’t stop as she goes right into “Flyin’ High.” This one rarely comes up for air, and shows off the abilities of this young sax player from Cleveland. The attitude changes a little as she gets funky on her soprano on “It’s Uh Girls World.” She really keeps this one interesting with lots of good movement between the chorus. It seems like a difficult one to handle because of the upper range of her soprano through out most of this one, but she handles it with ease. “Into the AtMISphere” is another Harasim/Rahn composition that was written for Elizabeth, thus the clever name. It is a little more laid back than the previous cuts, but her soprano continues to shine along with keys of Nicholas Cole. He is included in some nice solo work here too. “Buggin’” is another fun one that features Julian Vaughn on bass, Matt Godina on guitar and Cindy Bradley on flugel horn.
Bradley is brought back in as they slow down the pace on “Slow Burn.” The mellow undertones on this one only heightens what’s being played on the soprano. Cindy’s muted trumpet is a good counterpart as it adds texture. “Not Too Late” picks it up a little bit once again and is highlighted by the guitar of Steve Oliver. There is a lot of emotion in Mis’s horn as she soars ever higher. They really get things going on “Sax Appeal” as Tim Bowman is brought in for some really good guitar work. His strings play for a good contrast to Elizabeth’s soprano. She finishes the project with the reflective “When I’m With You.” You hear the slight vocals of Steve Oliver as he sings the name of the track along with guitar along with Godina’s. This is a good one to finish up with and brings everything to a close.
If you are a sax fan and really want to hear someone new, then this will be a great addition for you. The strength of Harasim and Rahn’s writing here is a good match for the abilities of this young musician. She shows a lot of talent on a difficult instrument to do so. Mis is surrounded by great musicians which only add to flavor of success here. The title of the album is perfect, and I’m glad to see her get the chance to do just that.