Jazz Vocals - CD Reviews (1352)
San Francisco vocalist Margie Baker’s assembled five musician friends with the idea of playing African-American music from the 1930s and ‘40s, which was then known as “race music.” Their three-hour sets would be tribute to the music that Baker heard as a young girl growing up in the city’s Fillmore…
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Jane Stuart has all the attributes of a real jazz singer and she utilizes them all in this fine album. The musicians are all first class, and that's as it should be on a recording of this calibre."I Just Found Out About Love" A happy tempo and some hip scatting…
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Sean Sullivan wants to do it all and wants to give listeners everything in his musical arsenal on Square One. The New York-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist delivers no fewer than 21 songs (17 on the disc and four bonus downloads) that showcase his considerable talents. A two-time winner of…
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Vocalist/pianist Peter Eldridge, perhaps best known for his work with the Grammy winning New York Voices, delivers a Latin-inspired collection of sleek songwriting with Mad Heaven, his first venture for Palmetto Records. Following in the footsteps of his critically acclaimed, self-produced 2005 release Decorum, Eldridge offers up sophisticated arrangements and…
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Lauren Hooker delivers a bold album full of interesting twists and turns. The surprises start early. She opens the album with a cool original that she kicks off but then turns over to poet Jeanette Curtis Rideau, who delivers a spoken-word performance. The track conjures up the feel and sounds…
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These are tough times for jazz vocalists. Most have recorded all the life out of the American Songbook repertoire, beating standards into an early death. Yet, recordings of standards by jazz singers keep coming out and coming out, and coming out. Thank goodness there are a few vocalists, like Norma…
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Probably the last thing anyone would ever expect to come from cutting edge jazz label Origin Records, would be a traditionally-oriented jazz Christmas album, but that is exactly what we get in this release from vocalist Greta Matassa, and bassist and vocalist Clipper Anderson. If there is anything cutting edge…
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Chicago native, composer and vocalist Paula Prophet studied classical guitar as a child, but credits her musical training to listening to the Motown and classic jazz singers as a child. She credits her work of 20 years as a licensed therapist in providing the inspiration for compositional/lyricist abilities. Her previous…
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Boston native, New England perennial jazz award winner and vocalist, Paul Broadnax spent time in the service before working as an arranger for the Sabby Lewis Band. Later, he worked with bands led by Tom Kennedy and Buster Daniels. In the 1970s, he worked in the Paul Champ Three before…
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Rob Keiter recorded The Glory Of Love during a rough patch in his life. In the midst of the breakup of his 23-year marriage, he found himself putting together a collection of a dozen love songs. The emotion was overwhelming. As he was singing “This Nearly Was Mine,” Keiter couldn’t…
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Vocalist Alison Ruble has gathered a strong set of jazz and folk-rock songs for her second Origin Records release. After displaying her diverse musical taste on her 2008 debut, This is a Bird, Ruble drives home the point that she is as comfortable reinterpreting the American songbook as she is…
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Easy Street is a delightful collection of jazz ballads presented with simple but effective arrangements that allows the listener to appreciate Callie Cardamon beautiful voice and cool delivery.As any good jazz singer Callie imprint every song with a bluesy feeling, singing behind the beat, a vocal technique most female jazz…
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Indiana native Lutalo Sweet Lu Olutosin debut album Tribute to Greatness is a nice collection of songs that reflects and pay homage to his influences that includes gospel, soul and jazz music. Lutalo song selection is interesting with some music not often recorded like "Four", "On the red clay" and…
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Even though she is a singer with lot of experience Hungry Girl is Margie Nelson debut album. A singer with a sultry voice, Margie can be funny, classy and romantic. Impossible to listen to the lyrics of the song "Hungry Girl" witout smiling. One line of the song says "Rachel…
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Stories Yet To Tell is something very special indeed from British jazz singer Norma Winstone. Somehow, all the material on this album summarizes what the ECM label is all about: spacious, haunting music that leaves you with a sense of lingering reflection at what you have just listened to. It's…
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There is a little bit of Broadway in the way MJ Territo sings. And even in the jazzier moments on the album, Territo does not sound like any other female jazz singer. Her pharsing and style reminds me more of male singers, like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett than Holiday…
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Jazz standards in an intimate format of just guitar, bass and clear, rich vocals, that is the new album of Jenny Davis, Inside you. Jenny Davis vocals are equally soulful and honest in ballads like My romance or swingin pieces like On green dolphin strett. Like any good jazz musician…
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Elisabeth Lohninger’s album, Songs of Love and Destruction, is full of extremely emotional songs. This album could take the listener on some kind of an emotional rollercoaster ride, but some tend to need something similar to realize that life is what it is. For example; her song, “Save Me” –“Save…
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UCLA ethnomusicology graduate and New Orleans native, Sandra Booker was the first vocal student to receive the Julian Cannonball Adderley Memorial Scholarship. Since then, she has taught vocal workshops at universities like Cal State Northridge and Santa Monica Community College, as well as at various high schools. Professionally, you’ve probably…
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What a better way to start Canadian singer/composer Laura Harrison's debut album Now Here, than with the extraordinaire interpretation and fabulous scats in the Sarah Vaughan song "Shulie a Bop." The hard swing, superb scats and amazing phrasing on this first track should tell you what's this lady is all…
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