Metropolitan Jazz Octet Featuring Dee Alexander Celebrate Billie Holiday

Metropolitan Jazz Octet Featuring Dee Alexander
It's Too Hot For Words: Celebrating Billie Holiday
Delmark Records

The Chicago-based jazz repertory ensemble, Metropolitan Jazz Octet's latest album, is an examination of the Billie Holiday songbook featuring vocalist Dee Alexander. It wasn't until they finished recording this that they realized that Holiday passed away 60 years ago. The original MJO was originally started in the 1950s by saxophonist & arranger Tom Hilliard. From the late '50s through '80s, Hilliard wrote many of the group's 150 (+) charts. As a professor at De Paul University School of Music, Hilliard taught three members of the current MJO. He bequeathed his musical library, passing the torch to the next generation. Now led by Jim Gailloreto, John Kornegay, and Bob Sutter, MJO consists of eight talented musicians who are active in jazz and music education in the Chicago area.

The current MJO initially started exploring Hillard's library, but since started including new works from its members. MJO consists of John Kornegay- alto sax and clarinet; Jim Gailloreto - tenor sax and flute; Peter Brusen - baritone sax and bass clarinet; Doug Scharf - trumpet; Russ Phillips - trombone; Bob Sutter - piano; Doug Bistrow- bass; and Bob Rummage - drums. On four selections, strings are added to enhance the recording. Ms. Alexander selected the ten songs that she and the MJO perform here. Members of the band contributed the arrangements. One exception is an arrangement by Thomas Matta, DePaul Jazz Studies professor.

Except for "Strange Fruit" and "Ain't Nobody's Business," the songs here have not been recorded 'to death.' Furthermore, those two numbers sound fresh in the hands of Ms. Alexander and the handsome arrangements here. As Neil Tesser observes in the liner notes, Dee Alexander does not try to imitate the phrasing or timbre of Lady Day. One thinks of Ella, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington as also sources of her art. What one has are her interpretations that make even the most familiar songs sound new. This is evident from the opening "Ain't Nobody's Business," with Jim Gailloreto's arrangement. Alexander's perfect pitch, phrasing, and her robust vocal, along with the horn setting and solos from Scharf, Phillips, and Gailloreto, make this one of the most outstanding interpretations of this song. Gailloreto's arrangement incorporates strings on the Gershwins' "Things Are Looking Up," in which his flute and the clarinets help engender a romantic feel with Sutter and Scharf in the spotlight. Alexander's vocal includes her magical delivery of the lyrics and her stunning scatting.

"The Blues Are Brewin'" is more of a song in the vein of "Blues in the Night," than a straight blues song. Alexander shows how dynamic a vocalist she is, at times, phrasing in a delicate manner and at other times, belting in like Ms. Washington. Scharf's arrangement gives a bluesy feel to "Strange Fruit," and Gailloreto takes a robust, almost gutbucket solo. Gailloreto's arrangement employs strings to provide colors and textures, providing a somber atmosphere to accompany the drama in Alexander's potent singing. The mournful trumpet and trombone set against the horns add to the mood of this classic protest against lynching. It is the darkest performance perhaps, but certainly, one that listeners will remember.

Between the marvelous playing of the MJO and the sublime vocals of Dee Alexander's, one cannot help but observe the rapport between them. There is magic in the performances of "I Wished on the Moon," "It's Too Hot For Words," or the heartbreak expressed "I'm a Fool To Want You." Dee Alexander and the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra are so marvelous that one might almost forget that this sterling CD is a tribute to Billy Holiday. This is that good.

I received my review copy from Delmark Records.  Here is the Metropolitan Jazz Octet Featuring Dee Alexander performing "Things Are Looking Up."