Year: 2004
Record Label: Sixerdoodle Music
Style: Jazz Vocals
Musicians: Jen Rathbun (lead and background vocals), Tony Migliore (piano, synthesizer and accordion), David Smith and Jimmy Carter (bass), Pete Bordonali (guitars), Jerry Kroon and Chris Brooks (drums), Lori Brooks, Stephen Hill and Michael Black (background vocals), Denis Solee, George Tidwell and Chris McDonald (horns), Carl Gorodetzky, Conni Ellisor, Alan Umstead and MaryKathryn VanOsdale (violins), and Carole Rabinowitz (cello)
Review: If Jen Rathbun were an actress in the 1940s, she would have owned the part of the smart dame who wore killer suits and spouted off snappy one-liners.
Instead, she’s a modern-day musician who sings and writes clever tunes loaded with personality.
Her latest CD, “Coffee, Chocolate & Men,” offers a wide range of jazz-based material that’s full of sass and double-entendre. Rathbun has plenty to say about, yes, coffee, chocolate and men, mostly men.
“Oh, would you call me shallow/If I say with estrogen/Some things come better rich like/ coffee, chocolate and men,” she tells listeners on the title track.
Effervescent Rathbun, who wrote or co-wrote the 11 songs on the CD, moves smoothly from funny to wistful to sexy.
She adopts a bubbly voice on the playful “Maybe,” gets hip on “Cool Cat,” turns sultry on “Nasty” and then takes on the role of every single woman looking for love on “Married, Buried or Gay,” where she sings, “I met a wonderful man then I met his wonderful wife.”
“The Yard Man” is one of the most memorable songs on the CD with its wicked double-entendres and Rathbun’s rich performance that’s big on voice and personality. She nails this one.
The eclectic material can’t help but have a cabaret vibe, but Rathbun manages to make the genre fresh.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Rathbun lives in Houston and has a growing following there. She recently won a national singer/songwriter competition, which included an opportunity to perform at Nashville’s famed Bluebird Café. Rathbun recorded the new CD in Nashville.
“Coffee, Chocolate & Men” is recommended, especially if you are looking for something beyond the dime-a-dozen covers album.
Tracks: All I Want Is You, Maybe, Cool Cat, I'm So Lonely, Nasty, The Yard Man, Married, Buried Or Gay, Monday Blues, Coffee, Chocolate & Men, Doctor Of Love and Seven Digits
Artist's Website: http://www.jenrathbun.com
Listen or Buy: @ amazon.com
Reviewed by:
Donna Kimura
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