CD Music
The Swingle Singers: "Weather to Fly"
September 2013
50 Years and Still Going Strong
World Village 450025
Format: CD
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Can it be? The Swingle Singers are 50 years old, and Weather to Fly is their first 50th-anniversary album. It seems like only yesterday that the brainchild of Ward Swingle swept in from Paris and informed us that Bach and other Baroque composers could be successful with a hot-jazz treatment. The group has gone through a lot of personnel changes in their half century of existence. Ward Swingle left the group to form his own New Swingle Singers and is still alive, back in Paris after a stay in the United States, doing new arrangements and guest conducting.
Tierney Sutton: "After Blue"
September 2013
An A+ Tribute to Joni Mitchell from Tierney Sutton
BFM Jazz 302062419-2
Format: CD
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When Tierney Sutton was recording for Telarc, I always felt that she had great promise but that she tried too hard, sometimes resulting in uncomfortable grandstanding. But 2011 brought American Road, her first disc for BFM Jazz, and everything seemed to change. Her voice had matured and darkened a bit, and she seemed more at home and less driven to prove a point, which made her all the more able to make those points.
Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler: "West Coast Cool"
September 2013
Cool Singing and Playing Bring Back an Era
Summit Records DCD 615
Format: CD
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This saucy, hip CD stems from a live concert that Cheryl Bentyne and Mark Winkler put together in 2010. Bentyne is a Grammy Award-winning singer from the Manhattan Transfer, and Winkler is a staple of West Coast jazz, both as singer and lyricist. Each is an appealing singer alone, but together they're downright irresistible. Not many jazz duos feature a match like this one.
Lorraine Feather: "Attachments"
September 2013
A Perfect Album from a Brilliant, Multi-Talented Artist
Jazzed Media JM1063
Format: CD
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Lorraine Feather was born into music. Her father was Leonard Feather, a jazz pianist, composer, and producer who is best remembered for his journalism -- writing reviews and album notes pertaining to jazz. Her mother was a singer in the big-band era and an ex-roommate of Peggy Lee. And her godmother was none other than Billie Holiday. Being blessed with genes and attention from the best offers no guarantee that one will come out ahead, but in Lorraine Feather's case everything took, and she has become one of the most brilliant and multi-talented artists performing today.
Lyn Stanley: "Lost in Romance"
August 2013
The Ultimate Album about Love
A.T. Music 3101
Format: CD
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The mellow flugelhorn from Gilbert Castellanos sets an elegant and sophisticated tone for "Change Partners," the opening cut from Lyn Stanley's Lost in Romance, a mood to which the rest of the album adheres. Stanley's vocals are so voluptuous and assured that I was surprised to learn that this is her first album. I had thought it was probably another in a string of successes.
Randi Tytingvåg: "Lights Out"
August 2013
Sorrow As Life’s Twin
Ozella SW 513 EP
Format: CD
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A true international sensation, Randi Tytingvåg is a Norwegian singer who records in Germany and sings in English. She has a style that is completely her own. You simply can't peg it, since it contains elements of jazz, cabaret, and pop put together in a unique and effective manner. Her first album, Red, was a huge hit, and it brought her to the attention of American listeners through Ozella Music, a German audiophile recording company.
Vincent Cross: "A Town Called Normal"
July 2013
Not Quite Bluegrass, but Very Good Nonetheless
Self released
Format: CD
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A good 90 percent of the indie albums we receive for review come from agents that have only indie clients. SoundStage! Network writers recommend about five to seven percent. Then about two to three percent come from the artists themselves. A Town Called Normal is one of the latter. That's sort of ironic, because it sounds like it could have been recorded in West Virginia, where I live.
Nancy Harms: "Dreams in Apartments"
July 2013
Nancy Harms -- A Star Ascending
Gazelle Records GNH-002
Format: CD
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Nancy Harms hails from small-town Minnesota and has developed a sophisticated performing style that couples nicely with a sweet, direct personality. She has a marvel of a voice that will do anything she asks of it. It can be sweet and simple or sultry and dark. She colors her voice to suit whatever a particular song demands. She has a sure sense of both rhythm and pitch and can float some high notes that would make an opera singer jealous.
Abigail Riccards: "Every Little Star"
June 2013
Sweet and Neat Jazz for a Good Cause
Self released
Format: CD
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This is Abigail Riccards's third album. Perhaps that's why its 12-song playlist seems so comfortable and secure. I like her voice and interpretations, and I surely like her choices in picking repertory. It's been a long time since I've had "I've Told Every Little Star" pass my way, and it's a first that it keeps company with "Circle Game" and "Waltz for Debby."
George Shearing & Don Thompson: "George Shearing at Home"
June 2013
“Just for Fun” Recordings Have Become Treasures
Jazzknight Records JKR001
Format: CD
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George Shearing became practically a household word when the pianist was under contract with Capitol Records. His recordings comfortably crossed the line between pop and jazz and sold exceptionally well. He was often backed by strings, and did some significant duo albums with Nat King Cole and Nancy Wilson. No doubt, album titles such as Latin Lace, Latin Affair, Beauty and the Beat! (a duo album with Peggy Lee), White Satin, and Black Satin (with voluptuous female models on the cover) helped ease the public's fear that they might be buying a jazz album.