Duchess Live at the Jazz Standard

Duchess
Live at the Jazz Standard
Anzic Records

After two delightful studio albums, Duchess, the flirty and fun jazz vocal trio of Amy Cervini, Hillary Gardner, and Melissa Stylianou, have a new recording catching their entertaining act at The Jazz Standard in New York City. Backing Duchess is a swinging quartet of Michael Cabe – piano, Jesse Lewis – guitar, Matt Aronoff – bass, and Jared Schonig – drums on a selection of songs, some of which are from the two prior recordings.

The trio's girl harmony harks back to classic swing vocal groups like the Boswell Sisters and The Andrew Sisters. They sing "(We) Love Being Here With You," which is followed by "Swing Brother Swing," both of which also feature Lewis' biting guitar in addition to the charm of their singing. The brief spoken interludes add to the appeal here. Other notable selections include a cover of The Boswell Sisters' recording, "Herbie Jeebies," with definite showmanship and an effervescent "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Then there is the wisdom of "A Little Jive Is Good for You," and a marvelous rendition of Duke Ellington's "Creole Love Call." Wycliffe Gordon provided the handsome arrangement of this latter number, which they offer an affecting performance with their wordless vocal harmonies.

There is plenty of manic orderly chaos on "Everybody Loves My Baby," with tempo changes and even a kazoo solo to close this cd. "Live at the Jazz Standard" is another delightful album of serious fun from Duchess.

I received my review copy from Anzic Records. here they are performing Duke Ellington's "Creole Love Call."

Calabria Foti In the Still of the Night

Calabria Foti
In the Still of the Night
MoCo Records

It has been almost a decade since Calabria Foti last had a recording under her name. A singer who has the likes of Johnny Mathis and Johnny Mandel boosting her, her album “A Lovely Way to Spend An Evening,” was a treasure of romanticism and sensuousness as she brought her own voice to the American songbook. The present release is certainly welcome and turns her voice to the wonderful works of Cole Porter. On this, she is backed by Michael Patterson, piano; Eddie Daniels, clarinet; Gene Bertoncini, guitar; Richard Locker, cello; Bob McChesney, trombone; Ike Sturm, bass; and Jared Schonig, drums in various combinations.

Like her last recording, Foti brings a mix of sensuousness and romanticism. The clarity in her delivery, her use of vocal dynamics, phrasing, pitch, and timing plus her voice’s own quality help make for some wonderful renditions of these classic American songs with the sublime, imaginative and understated backing. Bertoncini’s guitar and Daniels’ clarinet embellish the opening “Just One of Those Things,” Locker’s cello adds unusual coloring to her wistful performance of “Miss Otis Regrets,” while McChesney’s gruff trombone complements the slow tempo treatment of “Anything Goes” with her deliberate phasing matched by the uncluttered backing.

Patterson’s accompaniments are a significant additional factor underlying the sublime music here such as his solo accompaniment that opens “What Is This Thing Called Love” with Sturm’s firm bass and Schonig’s adroit use of brushes backing her wonderful handling of this ballad with Daniels providing a clarinet solo, and his obligatos on a relaxed “Night and Day,” add to its charm which also includes some unison vocalizing by Foti with Daniels, while the presence of cello and guitar contribute to the poignancy of the delivery of “Every Time We Say Goodbye.” “Its Alright With Me” is perhaps the liveliest of vocals here with a smoky, twisting clarinet solo. The romanticism she can bring to a lyric is most evident on “i.”

Her superb heartfelt rendition of the title track with Locker’s cello establishing the mood closes this superb, engrossing tribute to one of the 20th Century’s greatest songwriters. Hopefully, we will not have to wait almost a decade for Calabria Foti’s next recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 376).  She has a new release, "Prelude to a Kiss" which I will post a review of shortly. Here is a video of Calabria Foti backed by guitarist John Fox performing Duke Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone."

Arianna Neikrug Changes

Arianna Neikrug
Changes
Concord Jazz

Winner of the 2015 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition Arianna Neikrug has her Concord Jazz debut backed by a trio produced by Grammy-winning pianist and arranger Laurence Hobgood along with his regular trio mates – drummer Jared Schonig and bassist Matt Clohesy. Musically, this release displays Neikrug’s gift for interpreting tunes from the Great American Songbook, more recent pop and R&B classics from the ’70s as well as two originals she wrote.

On first hearing, Neikrug's soprano suggested to me the young Canadian singer, Nikki Yanofsky. That is simply a reference point as Neikrug quick displays on the opening "No Moon At All," her command of her voice,  clear phrasing, sense of dynamics and her wonderful scatting.  Hobgood initially provides spare accompaniment before the full trio enters for the swinging performance. Hobgood's arrangement for “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,“ is among her favorites. Her vocal  captures the lyrics' meaning and there is a wonderful piano . Another highlight is the wonderful reworking of the Al Green classic "Let's Stay Together," which is slowed down adding to the poignancy of the lyrics and the plea to her lover.

Her songwriting is spotlighted on the title track with its lithe samba rhythm and as she sings about she negotiating a tough period in her life. Her vocal including  marvelous wordless passages and delightful backing. A mashup of “Never Let Me Go/I’ll Be There,” opens as a lament of her and Hobgood of the Evans and Livingston standard, followed by the full trio backing her on a  ballad reading of the Jackson Five hit. Neikrug cleanly and precisely sings Hammerstein and Kern's "The Song is You," which is taken at a torrid tempo, and  transforms the century old "After You're Gone" into a R&B tinged lament. The album closes with a most entertaining mash-up of a couple of Joni Mitchell songs "Help Me/ Be Cool."

This is a marvelous debut by an already accomplished vocalist who is sympathetically backed by Hobgood and his trio. One expects to hear more about Arianna Neikrug in the future.

I received my review copy from Concord Jazz. Here is a preview video for this release.

Duchess Laughing at Life

Duchess
Laughing at Life
Anzic Records

Duchess, the flirty and fun jazz vocal trio of Amy Cervini, Hillary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou, have a second recording that provides a contemporary take on such classic vocal trios as the Boswell Sisters and the Andrews Sisters as they provide fresh and delightful takes on mostly classics of early jazz, and the American Songbook. They are backed by pianist Michael Cabe, bassist Matt Aronoff, and drummer Jared Schonig with guitarist Jesse Lewis appearing ion 9 of the 14 selections and tenor saxophonist Jeff Lederer on four. Additionally Wycliffe Gordon adds trombone to two selections and Anat Cohen adds clarinet to two. The trio share vocals on eleven tracks while each is featured on one.

The trio opens with a delightful take on Clarence Williams' "Swing Brother Swing" which is handled a bit more sweetly than Catherine Russell's recent recording of this number. Lederer rips off some ferocious tenor sax on it. "On The Sunny Side of the Street" is a pretty familiar standard and their backing trio adds fresh accents to the harmonies and vocal interplay with Cabe taking a lively solo. The title track is a sprite number new to these ears followed by a lively rendition of the classic "Everybody Loves My Baby" with Anat Cohen's adds fills around the vocals that include some double time singing and scatting before she takes a wonderful solo. This is a marvelous performance followed by a lazy, wistful "Stars Fell on Alabama," with Wycliffe Gordon adding some growling and crying trombone.

Amy Cervini sings Cole Porter's amusing "Give Him the Oo La La" with Gardner and Stylianou adding their backing while Stylianou takes lead on, "Where Would You Be Without Me," from a sixties Broadway show and Lewis takes a guitar solo here. Gordon joins again on Ellington's "Creole Love Call," on which Duchess sings lyrics in addition to wordless vocalizing. Gordon conjures up Bubber Miley and Tricky Sam Nanton with his growling mute as well as adds his own vocalizing and scatting to that of Duchess on a marvelous take on Ellingtonia. Gardner is up front on a nice take on the Ray Charles classic, "Hallelujah I Love Her (Him) So," and then the trio provides a ruminative take on Porter's "Er'ry Time We Say Goodbye." Johnny Mercer's "Strip Polka" is far from reflective with its zany lyric of a burlesque queen who strips as the band plays a polka while she is always a lady who stops just in time with Lederer's tenor sax providing the right atmosphere.

After a bouncy "Here's to the Losers," Cohen adds some warm clarinet to a lovely "We'll Meet Again" before a bonus track, "Dawn" which sounds like a lullaby. It is an enchanting finish to another delightful recording from Duchess.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the March-April 2017  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 371) but I have made a few corrections and minor changes. Here Duchess sings "Everybody Loves My Baby."

The Wee Trio Wee + 3

The Wee Trio
Wee + 3
Bionic Records

A new album from The Wee Trio, a Brooklyn, NY based group comprised of vibraphonist James Westfall, bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Jared Schonig. The trio is known for transcending musical genres in their material, but with their latest release they recruited colleagues Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Nir Felder (guitar) and Fabian Almazán (piano) to appear as guest soloists on individual tracks.

Discussing the guest artists, Loomis explains "Nicholas Payton is the prelude to our story as a band. We say that the trio connects so well because we had listened to so many of the same records. Mr. Payton's music was definitely an important part of all our lives. His playing, his intention as a bandleader, and his compositions were important building blocks for all of our own musical conceptions and development. Nir Felder is the present tense in the story of the band. We all met Nir very soon after we moved to the city and played with him a lot in our first years here. Our encounter with Fabian Almazán is a look to the future. Jared has known Fabian for a several years, but James and I just started playing with him for this project. Fabian plays with relentless creativity that really brings out the best side of the band. We love to play familiar material and take a lot of risks with it - push it to see what new options we can find hidden in it. With Fabian we got a chance to expand that approach to a quartet setting and bring it some new material that we wrote especially for him."

The trio opens with a chamber jazz mood with guitarist Felder on "R T 3." His guitar and Westfall's vibes initially mesmerize. Felder's solo quietly builds its heat with supple support from Loomis and Schonig. He is also heard on the closing two tracks, "Gibbs Street" and "Apparition," with marvelous interplay with Westfall, and the seamless backing from Loomis and Schonig.

With pianist Almazán, "Titan Up" is a brief, quite energetic performance followed by another performance with him, "Climb," where he displays his facility and imagination as he takes off from the somewhat reflective opening to very spirited mode followed by lively playing from Westfall. "Redwood" is a tribute to the California Redwood groves, with pianist Almazán joining on a performance of a composition that attempts to grasp the expansiveness of the feeling of walking there of being in an endless horizontal and vertical space.

Nicholas Payton is heard on a blues, "Sabotage," and then "No Justice," playing exquisitely, imaginatively and lyrically as he constructs his solos which serve as the take off for Westfall's own (marimba on "Sabotage" and vibraphone on "No Justice"). "Belle Femme De Voodoo," the last selection with Payton evokes a New Orleans parade with Payton's playful solo incorporating growls and slurs against the bouncy rhythm.

The one cover is Meshell Ndegeocello's "Lola," that Schonig arranged with Loomis bass providing the center of the performance before Westfall takes off on his solo. It is one of the two trio performances on this latest release from The Wee Trio. With their accomplished guests they have provided another fresh and highly engaging recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist.This review originally appeared in the March-April Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 371). Here is the Wee Trio with Fabian Almazán performing "Titan Up."

The Wee Trio Live At The Bistro

The Wee Trio, a Brooklyn, NY based trio comprised of vibraphonist James Westfall, bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Jared Schonig, recently issued their fourth album Live at The Bistro (Bionic Records). The trio is known for transcending musical genres (one of their prior recordings was devoted to the music of David Bowie), but this live recording made in St. Louis in February, 2013 perhaps has a bit more straight focus in a mix of interpretations of classics and originals.

The opening to Ray Noble's Cherokee is a bit dreamy until Westfall states the melody and then leading the trio on a hot interpretation of this swing era standard. Westfall displays a crisp attack with a clear lyricism in his solos as Loomis and Schonig push things along. Schonig takes a drum solo to introduce his Sabotage, with a driving groove with bassist Loomis helping state its theme before Westfall's clean, rhythmically infused solo. Westfall's White Trash Blues is a bouncy original followed by the trio's rendition of David Bowie's Queen Bitch with seamless navigation of the composition's changing motifs and tempos. Loomis' bass solo introduces the rendition of Isham Jones' There Is No Greater Love, with Westfall and him soloing with Schonig accenting their solos. Westfall's Space Jugglers is a spirited original with a bit of hi-life feel while his New Earth opens more reflectively before Schonig sets forth a more dynamic feel. Loomis' Ranthem is a number with changing tempos and dynamics. 

After a drum solo, the performance concludes with Schonig's exhilarating White Out, that is energetically and imaginatively played and further showcases the tight interplay that makes The Wee Trio's Live at The Bistro to be such serious and delightful fun.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of The Wee Trio playing Cherokee.