Album Review: A Live Musical Tribute to Peggy Lee from Angela O’Neill and the Outrageous8

 

Album:  A Live Musical Tribute to Peggy Lee
Artist:  Angela O’Neill and the Outrageous8
Label: Outrageous8 Records
Release Date: August 21, 2026
Website:   www.angelamaeoneill.com

Recorded live on September 10, 2024, at The Velvet Martini Lounge at Vitello’s Restaurant in Studio City, California, A Live Musical Tribute to Peggy Lee celebrates vocalist Angela O’Neill and her band, the Outrageous8, entering their tenth year together.  The repertoire reaches back to the band’s beginnings, performing some of the most revered melodies sung by the late, great Peggy Lee.   The Outrageous8 does not approach the material as a re-creation of Lee's recordings but rather as the big band orchestra supporting their own leading lady, Ms. O'Neill.

From the big band blazes of "Outrageous ‘A’ Train," the recording rolls into the bluesy burlesque swagger of "I’m A Woman,” laden with smoldering instrumentation as O'Neill performs with all the flaming gusto of a vixen.    The program shifts into the sleek funky grooves of “Hallelujah I Love Him So,"  firing up bushels of soul and R&B embers.  She kindles a sweet swinging vibe through "It's A Good Day" that coasts into the sprightly tempo of "I'm Beginning To See The Light."

O’Neill performs duets with vocalist Al Timss on “Mean To Me” and again on “I Love Being Here With You," inducing a call and response exchange that reels audiences into the scene.  The album closes with "Fever," a well-liked perennial written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, bringing out the vixen in O'Neill's vocals once again to the audience's delight. 

Angela O’Neill is a vocalist and bandleader who formed the Outrageous8 in 2016, bringing together Los Angeles-area musicians with backgrounds canvassing jazz, R&B/soul, and big band material.  The ensemble developed around O’Neill’s vocals, firmly grounded in swing and cabaret jazz.  An art form widely popular through the mid-20th century but O'Neill and her band are not our grandfather's jazz.  They are a voice of mid-21st century jazz that resonates beyond the borders of the venue where their recording is made.

Musicians:
Angela O’Neill — bandleader and vocals
Al Timss - vocals
Sam Morgan - musical director and tenor saxophone
Ron Cyger - alto saxophone and band librarian
Richard Walker - baritone saxophone, flute, and band librarian
Paul Litteral - trumpet and flugelhorn
Harry Smallenburg - trombone and arranger
Rocky Davis - piano and arranger
Bill Bodine - bass guitar
Tony Pia - drums
Dennis Mitcheltree - alto saxophone on this recording, substituting for Ron Cyger