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Reviews

Hannah Truckenbrod – Nobody Else But Me

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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.

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(Photo by B. DeMaso Photography)

Reviews

Victoria Day

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Victoria Day
Released 7 July 2019

If you go looking for “Victoria Day” on the Internet, you’ll most likely find the Canadian holiday:
“…celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria’s birthday.”

Keep looking.

Eventually, you discover Victoria Day, the young singer, whose Facebook page says: “I am an 18-year-old vocalist from Middle Georgia that has had the privilege of growing up in one the most musically influential areas in the Southeast.”

And that’s where the fun begins. It’s a debut offering from this Georgia-based singer, now turned 19 – she credits such influences as Otis Redding, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Nicks and Adele on this showcase of her versatile stylings.

The five tracks on this EP include a rendition of the Willie Nelson-penned “Crazy,” and Ms. Day’s channeling of the great Patsy Cline. “My Baby Just Cares For Me” recalls a young Renee Olstead. The offering is rounded out with Chris Stapleton’s “If It Hadn’t Been For Love,” covered by many but mostly remembered by Adele on the “21” album; and with the delightfully swingy “Is You Or Is You Ain’t My Baby.”

That’s four – but the fifth – “Accentuate The Positive,” energized, she says, by the backing of a live big band – is the one that jumps out of the speakers. If she’s to settle on a style, I hope it’s in that groove.

Worth a fiver to hear a young vocalist you’ll likely hear much more of (and about) in the future?

You bet.

You’ll be able to say you’ve been listening all along, and knew she’d make a name for herself.

This EP is highly recommended.

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(Photo by Fred Carpenter.)

Reviews

Patrice Jégou – If It ain’t love

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If It Ain’t Love (Prairie Star Records)
Released: 22 March 2019

I lament the death of the vinyl record album, listenable from beginning to end. Where else could one hear not only the popular hit or two from your favorite artist, but also hear them experiment with other sounds, other genres?

Patrice Jégou has us covered, here. The impressive list of talent she has assembled for this second studio recording ranges from traditional vocal jazz (Alvin Chea and Mark Kibble from Take 6) to gospel’s Táta Vega, to David Paich of the seventies pop group Toto.

And that’s just the beginning.

The 16-track (!) set opens with the high energy “Lover Come Back To Me,” backed by Kibble and Chea, followed by (did I mention?) “Jersey Bounce,” fronting the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. The big band also backs Ms. Jegou on the title track, “If It Ain’t Love,” along with “Just Squeeze Me,” and“Please Send Me Someone To Love.”

“Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams” features the whole Take 6 bunch; Ms. Vega puts the soul into “Yes We Can, Can,” arranged by Mr. Paich. Jorge Calandrelli arranged for both Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett – his touch is evident on such tracks as the Bergmans’ “Where Do You Start.”

My favorites include the mellow Steven Bishop tune, “It Might Be You,” the dynamic “Please Send Me Someone To Love,” and “Jersey Bounce,” both backed by the Clayton-Hamilton big band.

Forget the “concept album,” with one or two listenable tracks and eight more to coax a ten-dollar bill (or more!) from your pocket. This set of sixteen provides not only monetary but also acoustic value. The assembled crew of powerful talent is there to put a frame around the showcase for Ms. Jégou’s remarkable voice.

Highest recommendation for this set.

Track list: Lover Come Back to Me, Jersey Bounce, Baubles, Bangles and Beads, Yes, We Can, Can, I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today, Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, If It Ain’t Love, Estate, Lover Come Back to Me, Waltz for Debby, Losing You, Just Squeeze Me, Where Do You Start, Remembrances, Please Send Me Someone to Love, It Might Be You.

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Note: a couple of typos and one repeated word were cleaned up in edits after this was first posted.

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Bianca Rossini – Vento do Norte

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Bianca RossiniBianca Rossini – Vento do Norte
(Apaixonada Music/
BDM Records)
Released 17 July 2017

While I could listen to Bossa Nova all day – for the most part, it would be mood music. It is not typically the kind of music that engenders the “…turn that up, I want to hear this,” kind of behavior for me.

With exceptions. Sergio Mendes and his various “Brazil XX” groups, Astrud Gilberto, and now, Bianca Rossini.

Ten originals, all with lyrics by Ms. Rossini, opening with a strong and insistent title track, “Vento do Norte,” which manages to be both driving and tender all at once. That intimacy is what sets Ms. Rossini apart from many bossa nova vocalists – all emotion, never indifference.Bianca Rossini

As intimate as a whisper in the ear, and quite possibly as suggestive, as well. Makes me wish I spoke Portuguese.

Favorites include the slyly-titled “Tic Tac Do Amor,” the title track (“Northern Wind”), and the closer – “Coração de Ouro.”

Multi-talented producer-arranger and man of many instruments (piano, bass, strings, whistling!) Peter Roberts contributes heavily to the frame that goes around this talented vocalist. This is a third album for Los Angeles-based Ms. Rossini, which even in its most languid moments, refuses to be relegated to the background.

Very highly recommended.

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Canen – A Matter Of Time

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Canen - A Matter of TimePurchased at Amazon on a whim, and added to the playlist at my little (and late) net radio project, was a tune from Canen (pronounced “cannon”.)  This young singer was unknown to me, and judging from the album cover, appears to be…at the least, in her twenties.

Sounds like that, too – the first track to make the rotation was the old Glenn Miller tune, “I’ve Got A (Guy) in Kalamazoo,” and turned the radio up each time it came around.  Looking for a video at YouTube, and found many, and got a big surprise, as well:

Continue reading Canen – A Matter Of Time →

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Susie Arioli – Spring

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Susie Arioli - SpringSusie Arioli – Spring
(Spectra Musique)
Released – October 6, 2015

I’ve gone too long without writing much about Susie Arioli, but then again, she’s gone too long without an album. She shows up here for the first outing since 2012’s “All The Way.” Along the way, she’s lost longtime collaborator Jordan Officer on guitar, but picks up a horn section, arrangements, vibes and piano from Don Thompson, direction from Grammy winner (with Etta James)John Snyder, and four originals.

The opening track is one of those originals – “Loverboy,” a tune I was sure I’d heard before, always the sign of work with the potential to become a classic. She readily concedes that the original tunes center on that “man-woman love thing,” telling one interviewer, “You write what you know.”

Susie Arioli

The other originals are “Can’t Say No,” along with “Someone Else,” and the title track, “Spring.”

My other favorites are 1929’s “Mean To Me,” and Johnny Mercer’s “Travelin’ Light.”

The change of scenery serves Ms. Arioli well – her playful alto is in the sweet spot here, with gently swingy material, evoking music from some less complicated earlier time. The backing from a much-larger than usual (for Ms. Arioli) bunch of Montreal’s best is long overdue for this three-time Juno nominated songstress, overlooked for too long by all of us south of the border.

That band features Terry Clarke on drums, Neil Swainson on bass, Reg Schwager on guitar, and horns from Phil Dwyer (tenor sax), Andy Ballantyne (alto sax), Shirantha Beddage (baritone sax), Kelsey Grant on trombone, and Kevin Turcotte on trumpet.

Some of the best masterpieces come in small and quiet frames.

Highest recommendation for this one.

Highlighted tracks will be added to the playlist at 62ndStreet.com radio.

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