Sara K. is one of those artists whose music often transcends the boundaries of typical genres. As a singer/songwriter, her output ranges from jazz, country, folk, and blues. The music on this album, however, typically starts with more of a jazz base point whilst incorporating a little bit of bluegrass thanks to the occassional slide guitar. Other instruments on this album include guitar, piano, bass, muted trumpet, and various percussion.
"Play On Words" is an acoustical album that was recorded at MasterSounds studio by Bob Katz. Released on the audiophile label, Chesky, it has a warm, airy, and overall pleasant sound to it. The tracks have a very "live" vibe, and one might could be convinced this was taking place in a small night club thanks to the frequent distortions of Sara's amplified vocals. This technique usually adds quite a bit of charm to the recording, but occassionally feels a bit too much since it can result in unintelligible lyrics. But that is a minor quibble. It's mostly quite enjoyable. In fact, I only rated it slightly lower than some of the best discs because I feel the surround mix isn't all that it could be.
The surround mix appears to actually be only 4 channels. According to my DVD player, there isn't a subwoofer channel, which could pose a slight problem for those who lack full-range speakers or some form of bass management. Additionally, I can't exactly say for sure what might be in the center channel because it appears to be silent even though my player indicates there is indeed a center channel in the mix. Since I have bass management and, well, because I don't exactly love how the center channel can potentially abuse vocals, these omissions don't bother me. This album plays like a well recorded stereo disc. It's just that the surround speakers are particularly quiet, even after fidgeting with channel levels. Now don't get me wrong, I would never want to hear anything discrete coming from the rears because this album plays very much like a live performance. I agree they should stick to an ambient mix. However, surrounds just seemed a little bit too soft. I'm not quite sure how I'd improve it, but it seems there should be a way to pump up the ambience just a little bit without getting a gimmicky result. Regardless, I will say that what small amount of instrumentation there is to be found in the surrounds does, in fact, add to the overall enjoyment of the disc. Moreover, this is without me being able to easily localize any sounds from the rear. So I guess they errored on the side of caution, which isn't a horrible thing.
P.S. - If you ever get a chance to hear this album, be sure to check out the final track, "History Repeats Itself". It's my favorite track from this release.
