Tag Archives: Jazz Singer

Reviews

Gina Saputo + Matt Politano – Duetto

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Once upon a time, I ran a little internet music station that cranked out my favorite 3000 tunes and news on the hour. The regular audience was about 50 people around the world who shared my eclectic taste in music. After the music industry stomped out independent streamers with hefty licensing fees, my pipsqueak station played to an audience of only one – me.

And it still does.

I do subscribe to “Martini in the Morning,” an online outlet run by pal Brad Chambers that comes closest to my musical taste – although he plays not nearly enough jazz from the UK, a subject he and I discuss from time to time.

One recent morning, Brad mentioned that the backing vocalist behind one of the tunes from Jeff Goldblum’s new big band album is a woman named Gina Saputo – he says she’s been a fixture in the Orange County, California, business and that he thinks she’s headed for big things.

And I’m going – “Hey, wait! I know her work!”

And I have for a long time.

Gina Saputo - Duetto

Gina Saputo + Matt Politano – Duetto
Released – 19 October 2019
(Swingfest)

I was aware of Gina Saputo on a Friday night in Irvine, California. It was 2008. Impressive young woman, I thought. I looked her up on MySpace (that’s how long ago this was) and snapped up an album – “Swingin’ On A Star” to buy. Piano by Gerald Clayton, and produced by Tierney Sutton, no less.

But that was 2008.

These days, Jeff Goldblum (yes, that Jeff Goldblum) has an album with the Mildred Snitzer Big Band that features a short track with Ms. Saputo (“If I Knew Then”), which only brought her back to the forefront for me. There’s also a new album – this one, “Duetto” – which I snapped up, based on what I heard on the Goldblum set.

These are mostly straight-ahead American Songbook covers, with a couple of trips down side streets. In my view, one of the best of the dozen tracks is a remake of Frank Sinatra’s 1954 “I Could Have Told You,” expertly sold by Ms. Saputo. Sarah Vaughn’s 1946 performance of the Raymond Leveen and Louis Singer tune “I’m Scared” gets covered here, too. It’s a pair not often heard.

Gina Saputo

What a difference a decade makes. Don’t get me wrong – the young woman was outstanding. The fully blossomed woman is so much better. Ms. Saputo struts the kind of chops that only come with that extra decade of life. No one to hide behind except a perfect Mr. Politano on piano. And it’s a tightrope act that Ms. Saputo pulls off with no effort at all. Props to recording engineer and producer Tony Guerrero. Recording such a quiet album must be a challenge.

Besides “I Could Have Told You,” other favorites for me include the opening “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and the trippy “Lullaby Of Birdland.”

I’m so pleased to have crossed musical paths with Ms. Saputo again. She’s back in heavy rotation on the personal tune machine. As she should be in yours.

This set is very highly recommended.

Website

Photo credit: Cris Stroud, Hair by Lyndsay Maderis
Photo from Ms. Saputo’s website.

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.

Website

(Photo by B. DeMaso Photography)

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.

Performances, Reviews

a friday in fullerton: with gina saputo

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It was a long weekend in California – to a writers’ conference, working on that other thing I’d like to do someday.  I learned lots of new things, met many interesting new people, and spent Friday night in Fullerton, in Orange County – at a club called “Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe.”

And there, I got an introduction to Gina Saputo.

Before I packed up, a little Googling led me to quotes like “a young Sarah Vaughan” from the LA Times, or that she’s five years out of USC (on scholarship) with a degree in Jazz Studies.  Ms. Saputo has done backup work for the likes of Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Neenna Freelon, and Bonnie Raitt.

Nice blurbs from Tierney Sutton, who produced Ms. Saputo’s first album.

But nothing compared to the recommendation from the fellow on the phone when I made the reservation. 

“You like girl singers,” he said, “you’re gonna love her.”

He was right.  As I write this, I’m listening to tracks from Ms. Saputo’s MySpace site, and I’m reminded not only of her range but her stellar phrasing – whether a ballad or some of the swinging rafter-shakers that closed the set.  Easy banter with the band and the audience – a cool pair of socks from a Japanese tour, and half song’s worth of channeling Billie Holiday made it a fun night out.

The backing band included Yoon-Seung Cho on piano (with whom she’s working on a new recording), Steve Pandis on bass, and Evan Stone on drums.

By the end of the first set, they were firing on all cylinders.  The venue is a good one – I’d recommend reservations and early arrival for a close-up view.  Being a tourist, I was unfamiliar with it – but I’ll be back when I return for next year’s conference.

I hope Ms. Saputo is there, too.