On This Is Home, vocalist Judy Whitmore marks America’s 250th anniversary with six familiar patriotic standards interpreted through her clear, theatrical delivery and the expansive arrangements of producer and conductor Chris Walden. Backed by a 39-piece ensemble drawn largely from the Pacific Jazz Orchestra on strings, brass, woodwinds, piano, harp and percussion, Whitmore moves between […]
On This Is Home, vocalist Judy Whitmore marks America’s 250th anniversary with six familiar patriotic standards interpreted through her clear, theatrical delivery and the expansive arrangements of producer and conductor Chris Walden. Backed by a 39-piece ensemble drawn largely from the Pacific Jazz Orchestra on strings, brass, woodwinds, piano, harp and percussion, Whitmore moves between reflective passages, buoyant swing and full ceremonial grandeur, while Walden’s orchestrations give the brief program a cinematic sweep without obscuring its melodies. The repertoire brings together music and lyrics associated with Earl Robinson, Abel Meeropol, Samuel A. Ward, Katharine Lee Bates, Irving Berlin, Samuel Francis Smith, Emma Lazarus, Edmund L. Gruber, Charles A. Zimmermann, Robert MacArthur Crawford and George M. Cohan, presented as a personal salute shaped by Whitmore’s family history of military service. The recording emphasizes home, immigration, community and service, in a concise commemorative collection that is as thoughtful in its quieter moments as it is stirring at full orchestral strength.
