Catherine Sykes - Something Wonderful

Catherine Sykes - Something Wonderful
2011, Catherine Sykes

Catherine Sykes is a vocalist from Yorkshire, England who has quietly become one of the most respected interpreters of American style jazz in Europe.  Performing throughout Europe with The Glenn Miller Orchestra UK, The Manhattan Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Repertory Orchestra, Sykes has built an impressive following.  Her travels have even taken her to a prime residency in Japan.  Sykes' previous album, Singing In, was featured on the UK's Radio 2 and Humphrey Lyttleton's Best Of Jazz radio program.  Sykes rides that momentum into album number two, a collection of updated jazz standards entitled Something Wonderful. 

Sykes opens with George & Ira Gershwin's "I've Got A Crush On You", showing off a sweet and mature alto voice that just melts into your ears.  This is the perfect intro number for Sykes, who sounds like she would have been right at home on an AM radio dial alongside Kay Starr, Jo Stafford and Sarah Vaughan.  "Lean Baby" is a solid number that allows Sykes to shine, although her pianist nearly steals the show with a wicked solo in the breakdown.  Juan Tizol and Irving Mills' "Caravan" is a slinky little Latin Jazz love song that shows off some of the unusual timbre of Sykes' voice.  Stylistically it's a pleasant surprise slipped in here, and musically, Syke's band achieves a moment of perfect in interpretation.

Sykes heads to Broadway with Vernon Dake's "Taking A Chance On Love (Cabin In The Sky), and delivers one of the standout performances on the album.  A stylish vocal line is matched by a distinctive energy in the backing band, creating musical sparks.  Sykes is in fine voice, and manages to create a classic sound in the process of interpreting an underappreciated gem.  "London By Night" is a supper club number that blends a sense of excitement with regretful melancholy.  This isn't Sykes' most memorable effort, but the song is solid throughout.    Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Waters Of March" gets watered down next in a well-intended but ultimately imperfect effort.  Sykes is in wonderful voice here, and shows a distinctive talent for phrasing, but the emotional impact here is somewhat lackluster.  Stylistic and technically superior, this version just doesn't capture the sense of wonder this song conveys at its best.  

Sykes recovers nicely on Rodgers and Hart's "I Could Write A Book" (Pal Joey), delivering a classic reading of a classic number in dark and dulcet tones.  Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye" (Pal Joey), finds Sykes serving up a gorgeous vocal line alongside a vibrant acoustic guitar accompaniment.  This is perhaps the most intimate vocal moment on the album, and Sykes absolutely shines.  "He's Not The Boy I Knew Before" is a cute number that wears thin with its playful, stream of conscious style.  Sykes handles it well vocally, but this song just isn't a great fit for the flow of the album.  Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Something Wonderful" (The King And I) features Sykes delivering her most lovely and lyric vocal line of the album, over a gorgeous piano accompaniment that flows like water.  Sung here as a smooth, sweet love song, Sykes creates a "Wow" moment, where time stops and you can simply get lost in the song.  Something Wonderful winds to a close with "Let's Get Away From It All", a solid number that unfortunately is almost an afterthought in the wake of "Something Wonderful".

Catherine Sykes has a voice that draws you in, sits you down, and impresses on you the need to stay for awhile.  Her interpretations on Something Wonderful are generally right on target, and occasionally pass over the barrier into the sublime.  It's easy to understand why Sykes is so in demand in Europe, and hard to understand why we haven't heard much of her yet on this side of the pond.  But with a voice like the one you'll hear on Something Wonderful, you have to conclude that it's only a matter of time.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Catherine Sykes at www.catherinesykes.com.  Something Wonderful is available as a CD or Download from CDBaby.com.





Review: Antoinette Montague - Behind The Smile

Antoinette Montague - Behind The Smile
2010, In The Groove Records

Newark, New Jersey native Antoinette Montague is back with her latest collection of genre-bending jazz tunes entitled Behind The Smile. With a band that includes Mulgrew Miller (piano); Bill Easley (clarinet/sax/flute); Kenny Washington (drums) and Peter Washington (bass), Montague’s band have collectively played with Woody Shaw, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Branford Marsalis and Isaac Hayes, to name a few. Montague doesn't rest on anyone's accomplishments, turning Behind The Smile into a highly personal and emotive listening experience mixing jazz classics, originals and even some re-interpretations of classic R&B songs.

Montague opens with the title track, a self-penned song that sounds like it walked right out of The Great American Songbook. Montague's warm alto has just a glint of steel and can go from dark and serious to light and campy as quick as the wind changes. I Hadn't Anyone Till You sounds like it might have come out of the 1960's Vegas era. You could almost picture Montague on stage alongside Keely Smith from this performance. Slinky jazz is the order of the day on here, Easley practically steals the show on Clarinet. Ever Since The One I Love's Been Gone hits a strong dinner/cabaret feel, with Miller dominating on piano.

Montague's take on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On inject jazz and a slightly different type of soul into the classic Give Your Mama One Smile. While Montague is outstanding c tune. Montague is excellent, but the song doesn't transition well in spite of the best efforts of the band. The Song Is You is vocally distinctive, but Miller tries to do a bit too much with the piano this time around. The lust for speed becomes something of a mess in the bridge/solo. I'd Rather Have A Memory Than A Dream is melancholy and lush, and Miller is exquisite this time around on the piano. Montague takes on a Smokey Robinson classic in Get Ready in an outstanding swing take that might just play better than the original. The highly pensive Summer Song offers up the loveliest moment on the album, but Behind The Smile ends awkwardly thereafter. Somewhere In The Night didn't really connect, and Duke Ellington's 23rd Psalm came across as soulless, failing to capture the inherent power of the verse of Ellington's original take.

On the whole, Behind The Smile is a very successful effort. It has its weak spots, but Antoinette Montague and her band make the most of their better moments and make it easy to overlook the occasional flaw. Montague's voice will keep you listening as long as she keeps singing, and it would be hard to find a more talented backing band anywhere. Behind The Smile is both serious and serious fun, and well worth digging into.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Antoinette Montague at http://www.antoinettemontague.com/ or www.myspace.com/antoinettemontague. You can purchase Behind The Smile from Allegro Music or Amazon.com.

Review: Michele Thomas - I'll Take Romance

Michele Thomas - I'll Take Romance
2009, Michele Thomas

Chicago's Michele Thomas is a Jazz vocalist with a sweet voice and a predilection for the Jazz/Funk/Soul sound of the 1970's. Her debut album, I'll Take Romance focuses on standards, but you'll hear that 1970's sound slipping in and out from time to time. Thomas has a sweet voice within her comfort zone, but does struggle at times with pitch and tone when she stretches herself. There's not too much stretching on I'll Take Romance, however.

Thomas opens with the title track, and a velvety-smooth Jazz vocal that has some foibles but stands fairly well on its own. Thomas' band is top-notch, building arrangements around her voice that are pitch perfect. Black Nile brings Thomas into her upper register a bit. Thomas' doesn't have the knockout power of a Billie Holliday and isn't quite comfortable at the lower edge of her range, but in her comfort zone she's a fine vocalist. Thomas shines on Where Were You When I Needed You, a cover of Stevie Wonder's Superwoman (using the subtitle rather than the title). Thomas doesn't try to do too much with Wonder's creation, just lets the song be itself. The result is the best vocal performance on the disc.

Thomas gets to show off her scat skills on Charlie Parker's Marmaduke. Scat is a deceptive art; it sounds easy until you try to do it. The key is let go and let it happen - if you think it over too much it doesn't work. Thomas is brilliant here; mixing her voice with runs and solos on guitar, sax, trumpet and drums. Thomas takes on the Guy Wood/Robert Mellin penned My One And Only Love to great effect. This song perhaps doesn't get the respect it deserves these days, but in its time its been covered by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Doris Day & Andre Previn, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Sting. Thomas is on the money once again in a reserved performance that's thoroughly in character with the song. Astrud Gilberto's Gentle Rain is up next, and Thomas gives it her all but starts to run up against her own limits on a challenging vocal line. Thomas' sound is still excellent, but this particular tune takes tremendous breath control and Thomas struggles a bit in a couple of the longer, slower passages. Thomas closes out wit Duke Ellington's Come Sunday in a heartfelt but vocally mixed performance. The synth-driven arrangement doesn't really suit the song all that well, and to strip it down this much you really need to be able to take control of the song, which Thomas never really does.

I'll Take Romance is a good start. Michele Thomas can certainly sing; it's her ambition that gets her into trouble. One some of the more challenging tracks on I'll Take Romance Thomas exposes her flaws, but in a day and age full of pitch-correcting software and endless over-dubbing it's refreshing to hear someone willing to stretch themselves and know what you do hear is real. Michele Thomas doesn't have the power to belt out songs, and sticks to surfing the more lyric side of jazz, generally to highly enjoyable effect.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Michele Thomas at http://www.michelethomas.net/. You can purchase Messenger as either a CD or Download from CDBaby.com.

Review: Elliot Deutsch Big Band - Weeknight Music

Elliot Deutsch Big Band - Weeknight Music
2009, Elliot Deutsche

Elliot Deutsch knows the truth, that Jazz was Rock N Roll before Rock was born. The twenty-six year old performer, composer and bandleader has been knocking them for a loop on the Los Angeles Jazz scene since 2007, and released the debut album from the Elliot Deutsch Big Band, Weeknight Music, last year. Hard driving swing is the order of the day, mixed with rambunctious play and musical risk taking that harkens back to a time when Jazz was the high-wire act of American music and here adherents were the stars. Deutsch's background is rock solid, having played with or under the likes of Lalo Schifrin, BB King, Jason Mraz, Kenny Burrell, Les McCann, Hubert Laws, Bobby Rodriquez and Pato Banton.

Weeknight Music opens with a lively take on Cheek To Cheek before barreling into The Jury's Out with gleeful abandon. The spark of mischief that runs through the songs presented on Weeknight Music speaks to how much fun and creative energy went into the project. Beautiful Friendship takes listeners back to an era when big bands ruled the world, throwing in a decent vocal line over a lush orchestral jazz score. Aside from top-of-the-line musicianship, Deutsch takes risks in the writing/arranging of songs that are far beyond that most staid jazz musicians would ever dare. Even when these risks don't quite pay off the experience is still very worthwhile for the listener. Rhythm Challenge finds Deutsch having a race with himself; speeding things up right to the edge of losing control. A little of that control actually slips away on Space Cowboys, which plays a bit like Duke Ellington on speed.

Deutsch goes to the other extreme on Coffee Time, a pensive, halting tune that's more about setting the stage with atmosphere. The song is a nice change of pace, but is a bit listless at times. Yeah, We're Sleeping Together features some of the best solo work on the album, as Elliot Deutsche mixes brash confidence with musical subtlety beyond his twenty-six years that speak volumes into every note and every phrase. The finest work on the album, however, is the ensemble work on Nearness Of You, with subtly charged phrasing and a master's touch. Right behind it (figuratively and literally) is Nearness Of You. The same sort of energy is at play here, although perhaps to a slightly lesser extent. Weeknight Music closes out with the sprightly Stroll At The Beach, exuding the same playful energy that has made much of the album live and breathe.

Take a look around the Jazz world in twenty years and it won't be a big surprise to see each of the 17 members of Elliot Deutsch Jazz Band active in one project or another. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say Deutsch is the future of Jazz, but he brings the same sort of fresh perspective and exuberance that Harry Connick Jr. displays in the late 1980's. Weeknight Music is brilliant, balancing a healthy look forward with clear reminiscence on wear Jazz came from; all from a young man who sports what may be one of the brightest young talents in Jazz.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about the Elliot Deutsch Big Band at http://www.edbigband.com/ or www.myspace.com/edbigband. You can purchase Weeknight Music as either a CD or Download from CDBaby.com.