Hannah Truckenbrod – Nobody Else But Me
Released: 15 December 2018
My friend Bill is a vocalist. He performs in clubs all over my area, and once shared billing at the big local venue with a big band and – well, the whole nine yards.
Last weekend, he went to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra perform.
“Was there a girl singer?” I asked.
“Yeah. She was good. Hannah…something.”
I kicked myself for not getting a ticket. I’m a sucker for big bands. I knew they were coming, but the date fell off the calendar. So I went looking for the orchestra, and “Hannah…something.”
Truckenbrod. Hannah Truckenbrod. And she’s better than “good.”
The album contains mostly fresh covers – with a couple of delightful detours down side streets. One of them – “I Can’t See For Lookin'” peaked for a week with “Cashbox” at #24 for Nat King Cole in 1944. It is updated nicely here – with some playful call and response with Hannah’s brother Jake on trombone, in front of a live audience.
I’m also a fan of the title tune, “Nobody Else But Me,” added to the 1946 revival of Broadway’s “Showboat.” Ben Schmidt-Swartz on saxophone provides a nice bridge and frame for Ms. Truckenbrod’s voice – on this, as well as “I’m Putting All Of My Eggs In One Basket,” an Irving Berlin tune first recorded by Frank Astaire with Johnny Green’s Orchestra in 1936.
She writes, “When ‘art’ is selfish, one can argue it isn’t really art at all. The culture of humanity survives because people view art as a gift from someone else unto themselves. We feel understood when we hear a piece of music that resonates with us, or view a work of art that touches us in a way we’ve never contemplated, or when we listen to our bodies asking us to dance because they thirst to exist in a common rhythm. This is why I advocate for the arts; I am advocating for humanity.”
Her gift to us is a pleasant surprise: it sometimes seems the market is crowded with what I call the “beauty pageant” singers. They hit the notes, but tentatively and without a lot of emotion. Ms. Truckenbrod puts it all out there – as if to say, “Here it is, hit it.” And that very confident alto sets her apart from the pack.
Just a year out of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, she now fronts the Glenn Miller Orchestra – and while the lineage between the original Miller band and this one gets a little convoluted, the name can’t help but conjure up others like Paula Kelly and Marion Hutton. That’s not bad company.
And as Major Miller himself might say, “We’ve got a gal from Kalamazoo.”
This album was a pleasant discovery and is very highly recommended.
(Photo by B. DeMaso Photography)