jazz2love

Album:  It's Alright With Me Artist:  Liz Terrell Label: Westmont Records Website: www.lizterrell.com The rich sonorous of Liz Terrell's vocals make listeners turn their heads in her direction.  Her 2022 release It's Alright With Me is a compilation of classic pop and jazz standards that she treats with her distinctive stylizing. A stylizing that audiences will relate to the soulful inflections of Thelma Houston and the arresting luster of torchlight crooner Nina Simone, augmented by a dreamy, bluesy vocalese that lingers in the mind long after the recording comes to a close. Her treatment of Cole Porter's trademark melody "Night and Day" highlights the swing jazz elements of the track, turning the balladry verses into a simmering burner with bopping traction.  Her phrasing adjusts to the soars and inclines along the chord movements, as though knowing when to emphasize a lyric and when to let her resonance drift off.  Her vocal inflections certainly heighten ...

Album:  Sack Full of Dreams Artist:  Hazel Mitchell-Bell Label:  CD Baby Website:   https://www.hazelmitchellbellmusic.com/music Vocalist Hazel Mitchell-Bell might be new to the jazz palette, releasing her debut recording Stronger Than Ever in 2018 and following up with her sophomore effort Sack Full of Dreams in May 2021, but the bluesy crooning in her phrasing, the supple texture of her register, and the caressing aesthetics of her timbres are all familiar to listeners.  Her blend of jazz, soul, R&B, and bossa nova feel like home, surrounding the listener in comfort and bliss. Bell's memorable rendition of Woodrow Wilson and Buddy Johnson's gem "Save Your Love for Me" basks the listener in sheer bliss inlaid by embers of torch song-inspired soul.  She switches to a Cajun blues swagger in "Do I Move You," penned by Nina Simone.  Bell's command of Simone-imprinted blues demonstrates a dexterity that is laudable.  Supported by a string qu...

Album:  The Rings of Saturn Artist:  Joanne Tatham Label:  Cafe Pacific Records Website:  https://www.joannetatham.com Vocalist Joanne Tatham celebrates the gorgeous sounds of cabaret blues on her CD The Rings of Saturn.  As one Washington Post reviewer praises her shimmering vibrato, her voice is touted for being "reminiscent of the pop balladeers of the late '50s and early '60s," liken to such crooners as Shirley Bassey and Dinah Washington. Some may feel her time has passed with the mid-20th century while others embrace Tatham's steadfast affection for everlasting music. A compilation of jazz standards, pop favorites, and original numbers, Tatham embraces the jazz cabaret syllabus of the mid-20th century on her recording, opening with Nina Simone's perennial tune "Love Me or Leave Me."  Rather than delivering the song in a Nina Simone-esque voicing, Tatham inscribes the melody with her own individual imprint and nuances, making the song sound...