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