jazz2love

  Album:  A Study in Songbook Artist:  Dr. Gianni Bianchini Label: Gianni Bianchini Entertainment LLC Release Date: August 1, 2026 Website:  www.giannibianchini.com A Study in Songbook from vocalist-pianist Dr. Gianni Bianchini presents him supported by bassist Ross Kratter and drummer Sam Hart in a classical repertoire that expresses cabaret swing in a modern light.    His vocal  inflections inject the lyrics with emotion and verve, maintaining a jovial disposition throughout the recording. “I Thought About You" pervades a happy-go-lucky mood as the prancing gait of Bianchini’s keys kindle weightless flights,  turning reflective through “Dindi," an Antônio Carlos Jobim gem that draws out the bluesy timbres of Bianchini's register.  His nimble playing on the keys infuse "After You've Gone" with buoyant undulations, sliding into the slow bluesy shimmies of “Sweet Lorraine," bolstered by a sleek and conversational swagger.  The swinging vi...

  6th Avenue from Mike Thompson Label:  Hexproof Records Release Date: May 16, 2025 Website:  https://www.mjthompsonmusic.com 6th Avenue , the debut album from Mike Thompson is a contemporary big band collection of six Great American Songbook standards and four original compositions.  Thompson is a student of vibraphone, marimba, concert percussion, jazz composition, and contemporary writing.  He has teamed up with songwriter Sam Nickson for this debut, who wrote string arrangements and co-produced the offering.  Leading a 17-piece ensemble (five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a four-piece rhythm section) comprising mostly of veteran players from the local Boston big band scene, Thompson displays traditional big band pageantry with billowing flourishes reminiscent of Glenn Miller Orchestra and elegant sophistication akin to the Guy Lombardo Big Band.   Special guest vocalist Charlize Vermaak performs an impassioned rendering of Cole...

  Love Makes the Changes from Maria Corsaro Label: Lola Records Release Date: November 21, 2025 Website: https://www.mariacorsaro.com Showcasing vocalist Maria Corsaro's affinity for "combining the intimacy of cabaret with the spontaneity of jazz," her 2025 recording Love Makes the Changes suspends listeners over the clouds, above temporal worries.  Her narrations are personalized, delivered with expressive messaging that ensconces her in the role of a family member to listeners.  Track after track, Corsaro steers an intimate relationship with listeners, singing to them directly and privately.  Her treatment of "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" is beautifully done, exuding a strong and penetrative voicing that grabs the listener by the collar, as she emotes from her core, underscoring her magnetism as a stirring storyteller. Produced by David Friedman and arranged by Gregory Toroian, the recording canvasses a wide spectrum of human conditions from the celebr...

  New Release:  Christmas from Judy Whitmore and the Chris Walden Orchestra Label: Arden House Music Website:  https://www.judywhitmore.com/ In the long tradition of jazz vocalists such as Donna Singer, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Andy Williams, vocalist Judy Whitmore celebrates the holiday season with her offering Christmas , a collection of nostalgic Christmas tunes.  Her rendition of "Snow," familiar to audiences from Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye's popular film White Christmas, is a vibrant melody with its romping tempo and glistening effects.  There is a wistful tint in her register that resonates a sentimental vibe.  Her affection for the holiday spirit is palpable in tracks like "Happy Holiday" and "The Man with the Bag," enticing the listener to join in the season's merriment.  Supporting Whitmore is the Chris Walden Orchestra whose timing is flawless, creating waves of harmonious aesthetics that wrap listeners in a pleasing atmosphere from t...

    Album: In the Wonder of the Night Artist:  Angela Verbrugge Label:  G2 Records & Publishing Website:  www.angelasjazz.com Animated, flirtatious, seductive, and soothing, Vancouver-based vocalist Angela Verbrugge can coax a smile out of the grumpiest audience member, impressing a positive effect on the most impervious listener.   Her voice is gently persuasive, penetrating the listener with an effortless touch.  Her latest release In the Wonder of the Night is a collection of Great American Songbook standards interspersed with original tunes by Verbrugge.  She is accompanied by New York City-based pianist Ray Gallon.  Their duets display a simple elegance, highlighting Verbrugge's vocal melodies and lively vocal hooks. Verbrugge projects confidence in her delivery and sharp instincts to communicate the story behind the lyrics she sings.  She is theatrical without being flamboyant, buoyant without being pretentious, authentic...

Sports commentator Sage Steele opined, "You do you, and I'll do me" in a 2025 podcast hosted by Roseanne Barr. A motto that rings true for song stylist Jonathan Karrant.  Like many vocalists before him including Harry Connick, Jr., Michael Feinstein, Tony Bennett, and Michael Bublé, Jonathan Karrant sings songs from the Great American Songbook but he does not mimic his predecessors by any stretch of the imagination.  He imprints his own personal touch on the tunes, reeling in listeners and singling himself out from the wide field of song interpreters. Born in the heart of America at the foothills of the Ozarks in the old western town of Fort Smith, Arkansas, east of the Arkansas River, Jonathan Karrant prides himself on his down-to-earth American roots while also being influenced by his artistic mother, Nancy, who danced and taught for a local ballet company.  She discovered Jonathan's talent for singing at an early age and encouraged him to pursue the discipline. His...

Album:  Dream With Me Artist:  Naama Gheber Label:  La Reserve Records Website:  https://www.naamasings.com/ Endowed with a vocal depth reminiscent of CeCe Gable enhanced by a smooth vocalese reflective of Donna Singer topped in a sprightly youthfulness recalling of Fleur Seule, vocalist Naama Gheber's talent is vast and multi-layered.  She demonstrates an unwavering command of nuancing her phrasing with impromptu punctuation and interpolating poignant inflections, spiking the tracks on her latest recording Dream With Me with a liveliness that compels the listener's attention and holds each one spellbound. From the rhapsodic scatting she unleashes across "Weaver of Dreams" to the dulcet vocal swells wistfully ruminating through "Street of Dreams," Gheber keeps her audience enthralled.  Her focus to detail and staying true to the traditional swing ethos is applaudable.  Her talent to hold the listener magnetized makes her an alluring songstress, as her ...

Album:  Jazz Passion & Satin Latin Artist:  Jimbo Ross Label:  Bodacious Records Website:  Bodaciousrecords.com/about-jimbo-ross Facebook.com/jimboross Jazz Passion & Satin Latin , the latest edition to violist Jimbo Ross's catalog takes audiences back to his jazz roots with selections from the Great American Songbook, jazz standards, and a few original compositions.  Partaking on this adventure with Ross are guitarist Joe Gaeta, pianist Stuart Elster, bassist Peter Marshall, and drummer Ron Wagner. The band recorded the 13 tracks at the Sonic Boom Room studio using minimal overdubbing and no track-stacking over a four-day period.  The press release supplies, "Ross plays a modified copy of a classic viola, reproduced on a 3-D printer, and dually upgraded with a 5th string to extend the upper range of the instrument, and an electronic pickup to allow it to be heard alongside the other instruments." Ross's viola is well pronounced on each track while ...

Album:  Becoming Marlene Dietrich Artist:  Myriam Phiro Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.myriamphiro.com Smooth jazz vocalist Myriam Phiro introduces a new generation of music listeners to jazz standards that made Marlene Dietrich famous in her time from the 1920's to 1940's with Phiro's new release Becoming Marlene Dietrich .  Although Phiro immerses herself in melodies that had been Dietrich's trademark tunes, Phiro tailors the songs to her likeness.  Her illustrious mezzo-soprano register is higher on the vocal spectrum than Dietrich's contralto pitch, which stamps the tracks with her own unique nuances and inflections.  Her treatment of the verses is finessed with a distinctly soft, feminine touch and a delightfully, hypnotic resonance, setting her style apart from Dietrich's. Her vocals cradle the lyrics of "Quand L’Amour Meurt," written by Georges Crémieux and Octave Millandy, with a warmth that penetrates the listener's soul as Hyuna Park...

Album:  Making It Up As We Go Along Artist:  Lauren White Label:  Café Pacific Records Website:  Laurenwhitejazz.com Making It Up As We Go Along is vocalist Lauren White's fifth album and showcases her refined vocal style.  Her voice shines on the ballads, demonstrating an easy command of the soft vocal inflections in her register and a penetrating tenderness when she cradles the lyrics as though she lived through the stories she describes.  Working with producer Barbara Brighton, White exhibits a leaning to sing love songs that delve into the complex entanglements bound to surface while consumed in a mature affair. The jazz romp “Unlikely Valentine," penned by Ron Boustead, is a poignant example of White's attraction for songs that delve into the complexity of love, portraying two people who like to play the field and are surprised when they fall in love. The swinging horns performed by Brian Swartz on trumpet and Katisse Buckingham on saxophone brim with...

Album:  Come Fly with Me Artist:  Judy Whitmore Website:  https://www.judywhitmore.com/ The assortment of serenades, ballads, and torchlight tunes performed by vocalist Judy Whitmore on her latest release Come Fly with Me is an invitation to audiences to come along with her through a number of classic ballroom favorites from the Great American Songbook.  Her vocals particularly shine in “On an Evening in Roma," as her phrasing lures the listener along a dreamy jaunt with a playful hook in her resonance.  The subdued spurts of Hendrik Meurkens's harmonica have an elegant scribe, adding a pleasurable texture to the melody. The starlight glitter emanating from the instrumentation in "Moonlight in Vermont" form beams of light around Whitmore's vocals as the floating strings swirl gracefully across the melodic progressions.  Meurkens returns for "April in Paris" decking the track with soaring twizzles on his harmonica.  Changing course, Whitmore performs a...

Album:  I Thought About You Artist:  Jan Cronin Label:  Scootermusic Website:  https://jancronin.com Sonically exquisite, singer-songwriter Jan Cronin delivers a panoply of dreamy melodies on her recording I Thought About You from Scootermusic.  Accompanied simply by guitarist Andy Reiss and bassist Jim Ferguson, Cronin hypnotizes the listener with a stream of sparsely layered melodies that showcase the warmth of her resonance and the clarion smoothness of her timbres.  The emotional depth in her delivery penetrates audiences, drawing attention to the lyrics and their meaning. Her rendition of Victor Young and Ned Washington's classic gem "My Foolish Heart" speaks of human sentiment as she muses, "The night like a lovely tune / beware my foolish heart / how white the ever crescent moon / take care my foolish heart / there's a line between love and fascination / that's hard to see."  Ferguson's bass pumps plume like a field of delicate pansies that c...

Album:  Sweet Invitation Artist:  Beveley Church Hogan Label:  Café Pacific Records Website:  www.beverleychurchhogan.com Jazz vocalists like the sassy 92 year old Sheila Jordan and the peppy 86 year old Beverley Church Hogan never quite reach their prime.  They go on and on, always resonating an opulence and loftiness in their vocals that is ageless.  Hogan's sophomore effort Sweet Invitation is produced by Mark Winkler and arranged by John Proulx, and sees her imbuing emotion into the lyrics without being melodramatic.  The balance she achieves gives the tracks a genuine human quality that enables audiences to relate to her instantly. Hogan applies the smokey texture of her timbres to a selection of romantic songs from the Great American Songbook like the slow, contemplative stride she uses on "Here's That Rainy Day," penned by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke, as the rhumba sway shrouds her vocals in a soft light with the bright flicker of her voi...

Single:  You're Driving Me Crazy Artist:  Naama Gheber Website:  https://www.naamagheber.com Naama Gheber's treatment of popular tunes from the Great American Songbook is manna for the ears.  Her reimagining of Walter Donaldson's 1930 classic blues ballad "You're Driving Me Crazy," made popular by vocalist Billie Holiday and saxophonist Stan Getz, is another delight that will be included in her November 2022 EP If I Knew Then. In the vane of Holiday, Gheber personalizes the song with flirty inflections and nuanced vocals that engage the listener's attention.  Joined by pianist Ben Paterson, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer Evan Sherman, Gheber indulges in a playful exchange with her band, displaying a charisma that is entirely of her own style.  Gheber's vocals move from a mambo-infused sway to a sprightly swing and closes with a bluesy vamp.  The arrangement keeps the listener bewitched by the versatility and flexibility in her vocals, and her instinct...

Album:  Wonderful World Artist:  Chris Standring Label:  Lateralize Records Website:  http://www.chrisstandring.com Guitarist and improviser Chris Standring performs with a 19 piece orchestra on his 14th release as a leader, Wonderful World .  He puts his own unique spin on songs from the Great American Songbook as he reimagines an assortment of jazz standards, setting the listener at ease track after track.  His articulation of the verses beckons the listener to savor each musicians input, enticing one to be absorbed by the warm climate Standring creates with his guitar riffs. His treatment of Cole Porter's staple "Night and Day" highlights the ruminating mood of the track, transitioning into the soft billowy phrasing of "Autumn in New York," composed by Vernon Duke.  Vocalist Kathrin Shorr's performance on "What a Wonderful World" is spellbinding as her vocals caress the lyrics with warm, feminine tenderness.  The low-lit simmer in her timbres h...

Album:  My Funny Valentine Artist:  Grace Haggerty Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.gracehaggerty.com My Funny Valentine , the new solo offering from vocalist Grace Haggerty, is pristinely put together.  An assortment of jazz standards from the perky swinging thrusts of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" to the Brazilian smoothness of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars," Haggerty whisks listeners along a pleasing voyage that elevates the senses and stirs elation. The repetitive tossing motion of Mauro Refosco's percussion contours Haggerty's vocals in a soft kindle along "You Go To My Head," giving the track a cocktail shaker trope.  Artfully, "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars" is seasoned in Calpyso-hued flickers as Angelo DiPippo's accordion moves in and out of the track with whirling figures that stimulates the listener's pulse.   Endowed with a whispery vocalese reminiscent of Judy Collins,...

Album:  Mad Romance And Love Artist:  Maurice Frank Label:  Jumo Music Website:  www.mauricefrank.com Blues crooner Maurice Frank performs a stimulating rendition of swinging jazz numbers on his latest release Mad Romance And Love .  His contemporary interpretation of such nostalgic tunes as Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's memorable "How Little We Know" and  Billy Strayhorn and John Latouche's lounging melody " Day Dream" are captured in his soothing vocalese.  The lyrics are cradled in his register as though they were precious gems, needed to be handled with care.  His affection for these songs is palpable. His performance of Robert Wright and George Forrest's showtune "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" rekindles a famous favorite from the Great American Songbook, possessing the sultry swagger of Michael Feinstein and the dreamy resonance of Paul Anka.  His refreshing interpretation of "In My Life," penned by the Beatles, revitalizes...

Album:  Let's Go Artist:  Sam Fazio Label:  Self-Released Website:  www.samfaziomusic.com Displaying a genuine reverence for classic jazz standards, vocalist Sam Fazio has a Perry Como style delivery, totally nonchalant and reflective in a voice that cradles the lyrics as though they are precious china.  His new CD Let's Go contains a selection of Great American Songbook standards, a few pop classics, and three originals written by his record producers Patti Cathcart and Tuck Andress.  A montage of bluesy vocal melodies, Fazio intimates human emotions that will move his audience. The swinging rhythm of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" brings out Fazio's playful side as his vocals traipse jovially across the melody, brimming a bright mood.  On the other hand, "Superstar" brings out the torchlight flickers of his timbres as he gleams a mellow tone, which turns to a glinting clip in the pop classic "Eleanor Rigby," written by John Lennon and Paul ...

Album:  And So It Begins Artist:  Lois Bruno Label: Wise Cat Records Website:  www.wisecatrecords.com Perhaps a part of the new generation of Las Vegas strip's Starlight Lounge vocalists and Manhattan's haughty Cafe Society icons, chanteuse Lois Bruno enchants, engrosses, and whisks listeners away with her rendition of popular jazz standards from the Great American Songbook on her latest release And So It Begins .  Supported by saxophonist Kenny Shanker, pianist Mike Eckroth, bassist Yoshi Waki, and drummer Brian Fishler, Bruno captivates audiences with her special brand of feminine touch. Her remastering of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart's monumental novelty "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" accentuates the lush resonance in her vocals.  Equally spellbinding is her treatment of Johnny Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Carson's popular single "Always on My Mind" as she places poignant pauses along the verses that intensify the lamenting fe...

Album:  Something Good Artist:  Kelley Johnson Label: Oa2 Website:  https://kelleyjohnson.com Image a breezy day in the fall, walking through the streets for no particular reason merely on a whim while reflecting inwardly, filling one's mind with pleasing thoughts is the kind of mood Kelley Johnson's latest release Something Good will do for listeners.  From the opening number of "Anyone Can Whistle," Johnson whispers softly into the listener's ears, setting her audience off into a ruminative state of mind. Johnson indulges in a wayfaring pondering through "Goodbye To Love," even when recognizing that love has ended, she projects an optimistic mood that the future promises goodness to enter into life. There is a dominating theme in the recording, soliciting the listener's thoughts to roam, reflect, ramble, and journey into terrain that is often concealed, those intimate feelings that reveal one's vulnerable side.  In "You Do Something To...