Album Review: Love on the Tyrrhenian from CeCe Gable

Album:  Love on the Tyrrhenian
Artist:  CeCe Gable
Label: CCGableLLC
Website:  https://cecegable.com
 
Love on the Tyrrhenian, the sixth full-length recording from vocalist CeCe Gable blends American swing with Latin influences and easy listening/contemporary adult pop serenity.  Track after track weaves a melodious tapestry of picturesque tunage, sweeping listeners away along a blissful cruise.

A lounging samba rhythm transports the title track and "Little Boat" into a balmy, paradise-imbued realm with the keys twinkling softly as Gable's warm vocals blanket the listener in succor-rich vibrations.  There is a nostalgic slant in the music reminiscent of the alluring escapes penned by Antonio Carlos Jobim.  
 
Gable continues serenading the listener with the luxurious atmospherics of "The Riviera," a staple of Cy Coleman and Joseph Allen McCarthy.  The arrangement is given an elevating boost by pianist-arranger John Shipley, enhanced by the dulcet shimmers of saxophonist Jim Garaventa, as Gable's vocals stroke gracefully across the melodic passages.
 
Gable's vocal delivery of Irving Berlin’s “Say It Isn’t So” is haloed in a flotilla of strings, anchored by Shipley's reflective musings on the keys and the smooth glides of bassist Joe Dolister.  The breezy riffs of Akio Sasajima's guitar strums circle Gable's vocals at the opening of "You and the Night and the Music," turning to a brisky strut dovetailed by the bopping throbs of Harvie S's acoustic bass.  Gable credits Harvie S with being there for her from her beginning as a jazz vocalist.   He was one of the first people she ever worked with in jazz, and he was in the band when she sang her first jazz song in concert.
 
The adult pop persuasion of Angelo Earl's guitar motifs sizzle across "Small Day Tomorrow," a sweet nocturnal penned by Fran Landesman and Bob Dorough.  Shipley's performance on B3 and Fender Rhodes gives the track a soulful glint while the bluesy tone of Tony Savage's drums dips the arrangement into a noir jazz hue, closing the track with the sultry timbers of Garaventa's tenor sax. 
 
Gable kicks up the tempo to an upbeat, rollicking stride along Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen’s signature tune “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home."  The recording veers into a tangoesque sashay along "I'll See You in C-U-B-A," closing the listening experience with the soothing bossa nova rustle of "Once Again It's Winter," an original tune with lyrics by Gable and music by her long-time collaborator Corky Brumble.
 
Gable's delivery is filled with warmth, introspection and dreamy allure.  Her stroll through adult pop staples, jazz standards, and original tunes is inviting, sharing a visceral serenity with her audience.  Having devoted 25 years to honing her craft and developing a reputation as a striking songstress in Reno, Nevada, CeCe Gable inspires serenity and love in the listener.
 
Musicians:
Akio Sasajima - guitar
Angelo Earl - guitar on "Small Day Tomorrow"
Bill Hecht - piano
John Shipley - piano, Hamond B3 organ and Fender Rhodes
Dylan Coleman - bass on "Love on the Tyrrhenian"
Joe Dolister - bass
Harvie S - bass
Dr. Andy Hegland - drums and percussion
Tony Savage - drums
Eric Finkelstein - cajon and clave on "The Riviera"
Dr. Josh Reed - trumpet
Jim Garaventa - soprano and tenor saxophone