Rees Shad

On first listen these songs sound like a collection of newly discovered jazz ballads left in an old piano used by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, or Tony Bennett. Each has a 50s early 60s character of well-shaped pop songs from an era of exquisitely written material.

The most ear-appealing comes with the slow piano-driven “Call This Done.” A catchy melody, sung with passion by Rees Shad (guitars/piano) in a voice that dominates a room like few voices do today. The lyrics are not weak in any manner but jazz-pop poetic. Some cleverly literate, with a lyrical magical sense often found in the pens of Oscar Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin, Lorenz Hart & Hoagy Carmichael songs. Some songs were like they were written by these writers with the team sensibility with their respective composer partners. A modern light jazz twist of pop lemon is added by Mr. Shad who uses it with expertise.
There are beauties here recorded in Rhinecliff, NY. Tattletale (Drops Oct 7–Independent) has 11-cuts that after all the basic, well-disciplined opening performances display an upbeat French-styled gypsy-street song with “In the Arms of Tania Vanessa.” This melody could’ve been used for a French-Italian romantic director’s art film. The accordion & acoustic guitar are reminiscent of the late Django Reinhardt. There’s an element of vintage in the showcase but not retro, not antiquated, but freshly conceived (“Nobody Said”).

Shad manages a more mainstream “Can’t Remember” which is excellent — not only for Shad’s vocals but arrangement. Shad sings with a Joe Cocker power with far more range & singing lessons. All rough edges smoothed over. His voice always exudes warmth & “Carolina Wren” is filled with sophisticated singing with a Carter Family flavor with the expressive Ruth Ungar.

Rees takes you into another era, but the journey is with moments of resurrection that develop its own ultimate jazz boite throughout. Rees keeps it interesting by injecting dynamics into his showcase. His voice is perfect for these attractions. The Hoagy comparisons come with the inflections in the title tune “Tattletale,” & its Dixieland-saloon bounce while Mark Fineberg’s reeds sparkle.
“Lost In Translation,” is a tune Van Morrison would appreciate with its smooth sax coupled with herky-jerky almost bird sounds that border on 50s exotica – only this has spice. As they all do. Highlights – “Mickey Mouse Romeo,” “Under New Management,” “Hatter’s Song,” & any title in the body copy.

Band – Tony Aiello (reeds), Larry Campbell (violin), Ira Coleman & Jeff Link (upright & electric bass), Bobby Kay & Tom Major (drums), Brian Mitchell (accordion), Carlos Valdez (percussion), Jimmy Weider (electric guitar/slide guitar/mandolin) & Matt Ziegler (Hammond B3/Wurlitzer Piano). - Americana Highways

On January 6, 2021, Great Barrington-based singer-songwriter Rees Shad was inspired to write the song “Call It Done.” Although the tune sounds like a love song, its true genesis came from that day’s dark events.

Shad, who is also a luthier, found himself struggling to construct a guitar due to wood that wouldn’t bend to his will. He turned on the radio as a distraction, and what he heard was a live feed from the Capitol in Washington, D.C. “Toward the end of his life, my dad worked under Reagan and Bush [Sr.], but my family could always find common ground and talk it through,” he said. “The difference that I heard on the radio that day … was a nation that would not come together, on one of its worst days,” said Shad, with emotion in his voice. “I sat down at the piano and started writing.”
With the lyrics “Ours was a grand affair, but it didn't turn out as planned/for better or for worse, we’ve always stayed together/never ever came undone, despite the doubts of everyone,” “Call It Done” at first appears to be about a relationship in trouble. “As a writer I’m sometimes too political, so I learned to use more metaphors,” Shad said. “This is a song about the union we’ve created; I’m not willing to give up on it and walk away.”

Shad said he wrote the song in about 45 minutes, and he and his band, Rees Shad and the Conversations, will be playing it live this month to “commemorate where we’ve come from and what we can be.”
After more than a decade at the helm of a successful recording studio, followed by two decades as a professor of higher education, Shad recently returned to his first love: full-time songwriting. The Conversations, a jazz-pop trio made up of drummer Bobby Kay, bassist Jeff Link and Shad on guitar, are currently on a regional tour to promote Shad’s most recent album, “Tattletale,” which debuted this past October. (The trio will be at Methuselah Bar & Lounge in Pittsfield on Jan. 21 and Bright Ideas Brewery in North Adams on Jan. 27.)

Shad grew up in New York City, the child of two lawyers who were also big band and classical music lovers. After studying piano, he began writing and recording his own songs at a young age. Eventually, he switched from piano to guitar because “it was much easier to impress girls at parties with a guitar.”

He graduated from Skidmore with an English degree and got married; the couple bought an old farm in Argyle, New York, where they created their recording studio in the property’s barn. Shad, who now has a smaller recording space in the Great Barrington home in which the couple have lived for the past five years, recalled the farm as being “basically a bed and breakfast for musicians.”

After 14 years “on the farm,” Shad said he realized his favorite part of the entire venture was showing interns the ropes and witnessing their excitement and eagerness to learn. Shad, who holds master’s degrees in Technical Communication, Design & Technology, and as an Educational Specialist, switched gears and spent close to 20 years working in higher education. While a tenured associate professor at The City University of New York, he established its first program in Game Design.

Although he’s released 30 of his own albums, Shad said he’s currently writing some of the best songs of his career. “I’m composing all the time, another record is in the can for the future, and another album is already 90% composed,” he said. “I’ve never been this creative and I’ve never felt so free. I really love doing this.” - Rural Intelligence

Rees Shad has been making music for quite a long time, nearly 30 years in fact. In that time, he’s developed a reputation as an esteemed songwriter, one who’s never found the need to repeat himself or fully pursue the same sort of sound twice. His new album, Tattletale, is a case in point. It’s carefree at first, but the mood changes dramatically after the first few songs, and by the time the album’s midway through, Shad has settled into a more reflective posture, one that brings to mind Elton John or Billy Joel in full piano man mode. Yet even at that point in the proceedings, Shad still manages to shift his stance, with “In the Arms of Tania Vanessa” coming across as an evocative European-style waltz, while “Lost In Translation” sounds like a smooth south of the border samba. So too, songs such as “Nobody Said” and “Can’t Remember” are essentially soulful serenades. That said, the breezy “Carolina Wren,” a duet with Ruth Ungar, unearths its charms through an otherwise unassuming attitude. A consummate artist and entertainer, Shad’s songs shine throughout. - Goldmine Magazine