Album Review: We're All in the Dance from Rachel Caswell

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Album:  We're All in the Dance
Artist:  Rachel Caswell
Label:  Turtle Ridge Records
Website:  www.rachelcaswell.com

Brimming with cafe society-style, vocalist Rachel Caswell puts audiences in a relaxing state of mind on her latest CD We're All in the Dance.  Her scatting is evenly clement and her bluesy vocalese has a pacifying Patti Austin-esque flare.  A collection of jazz and pop standards, Caswell's recording is extremely likeable as she contemporizes the concept of cafe society.  Produced by her guitarist Dave Stryker, Caswell's offering is melodically arranged and shaped with harmonious chord patterns from beginning to end.

She forms a cascade of scatting sounds drizzling intermittently along "Devil May Care," a tune written by Bob Dorough and Terrell P. Kirk, Jr.  The dreamy ambience of "Two for the Road," a Henry Mancini gem, features Caswell's vocal elasticity, reaching and refracting, catching the feel of the music.  Her sister Sara Caswell sows soaring lifts on violin through the track, enhancing the calming quality of the elixir.  The smoky blues timbres in Caswell's alto register pours out smoothly along "Drown in My Own Tears," an iconic jazz standard for Henry Glover, while the silky tresses of her vocals comfortably nestle and cuddle against the melodic phrasing of "Tell Me A Bedtime Story."

Brimming with traditional cafe society class, Caswell's CD fits into her audience's laid back lifestyle.  She stokes the flames of classic cabaret blues, soaked in straight-ahead jazz trimmings.  Her music is mainstream by virtual of the fact that everyone could use a dose of her kind of jazz vocals.

Musicians:
Rachel Caswell - vocals
Sara Caswell - violin
Dave Stryker - guitar
Linda May  Han Oh - bass
Fabian Almazan - piano and Fender Rhodes
Jonathan Blake - drums

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