Annette Gregory’s latest single is a joyful piece of quaint, easy going piano balladry with hidden depths.
A British jazz vocalist, Annette Gregory is based in Worcestershire, and her voice on ‘Thinking’ is silky smooth. Elegant and surprisingly deep, ‘Thinking’ is an ode to to the unfairly represented grandpas and grandmas of this world. As a grandparent herself, Annette wrote ‘Thinking’ as a reminder to her grandchildren of how much she loves them.
Co-written with longtime collaborator of Annette, pianist John McDonald, ‘Thinking’ is a sleepy and lilting composition that’s delivered with grace. Built only around McDonald’s rich and harmonious grand piano and Gregory’s voice, the piece’s exceeding grace lies only in part in its sparsity, next to how stunning the composition actually is. The apparent simplicity of the composition is deceptive, as its piano part is intricately arranged, and Gregory’s textured vocals are melodic, dynamic, and always in motion, alongside of course the stirring lyrics and her heartfelt delivery.
‘Thinking’ will not be topping charts anytime soon, nor will it necessarily break boundaries for jazz composition. What ‘Thinking’ really is, a simple piece of soulfully felt and delivered music. No frills, no additives, and it’s pieces like it that make us reconsider what music -at the end of the day- should really be about.