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Sony Holland - Out of This
World (Van Ness Records)
Released: November, 2006.
My wife does not share my musical tastes. She leans more toward Latin
beats and hunky male singers. So when I get caught listening to "my" music
on the big rig with the big speakers in the living room, I'm usually ready
to hear, "Honey, can you turn that down, please?"
Instead, what my wife said was, "Oh, my. Who is this? She's very good."
Oh, my. Indeed.
She is Sony Holland. The story goes that she was a street performer
at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco in 2003. But not for long. By
the next year, according to the bio, she was cutting records, touring Asia
and selling out San Francisco jazz venues.
She makes singing like this sound easy - and that's the joy of listening to Sony Holland.
When it's this easy to listen to, you (well, I) want it in the big
room, on the big speakers.
The disc consists of ten standards and three originals that stand up
alongside the classic tunes nicely. Among the originals, "I'll Lead The Way" is
the best - by the time the hook is reached, the tune is into a groove, and
you'll be enjoying the smartly-assembled lyrics.
Other highlights include the lead track, "Old Devil Moon," along with the
Van Heusen-Cahn chestnut, "Come Fly With Me," and another original, "By
The Sea," a bouncy tribute to jazz greats.
The backing band is top-notch, and includes mostly Art Khu on piano (and
Hammond Organ!), Jim Nichols on guitar, John Shiflett on bass, Charles
McNeal on sax, and David Rokeach on drums. John R. Burr and Benny
Watson on piano and Perry Thoorsel on bass sit in on a couple of the
tracks.
Lots of independent releases come sailing into the girlsingers.org mailbox
- not so many of them make it into heavy rotation on the iPod commute mix.
This one will be there for quite a while.
Go past Norah and Diana at iTunes or your corner brick-and-mortar shop.
This one's worth a special order, if you have to. It belongs in your
collection.
Highest recommendation.
Four microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(12/23/06) |
