Capturing Clouds
Street of Stars Records
This is the fourth album from Tamuz Nissim, an Israeli born vocalist who has been living in New York City for the past five years. Her vocals are supported by guitarist George Nazos, bassist Harvie S, and drummer Tony Jefferson. In her album notes, Nissim compares jazz to the impossibility of capturing clouds, and how the freedom to improvise make the same song sound different, just like clouds transform and remold their shapes. Her intent o is to bring this freshness to the songs she performs.
She displays an ability to bring a fresh approach to the opening "On the Sunny Side of the Street" backed just by bass and drums. She enchants with her alluring voice, her pitch, and flute-like phrasing set against the restrained backing. Furthermore, she fascinates with her scatting here and on her original "Make It Last," with Nazos taking a winsome solo along with drummer Jefferson. She also wrote the title song with a soft, dreamy vocal. Another standard, "Like Someone In Love," also has her enchanting singing backed solely by bass and drums with Harvie S soloing. Nissim's original, "What a Pair," is an exquisite duet between her scatting and bassist Harvie S.
Nissim displays a perky side on her rendition of Tom Waits' "I Don't Want To Grow Up," one of several unusual song interpretations she performs here. Another one is her thoughtful approach to Nick Drake's "Saturday Sun," with Nazos providing gorgeous guitar accompaniment. On "Rhapsody For Trane (I Hear a Rhapsody)," she crafted lyrics to John Coltrane's solo on "I Hear a Rhapsody" from Trane's "Lush Life" album and dazzles with her vocalese singing.
The final selection is a sweet, relaxed version of George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun," accompanied solely by guitar. It is a captivating close to this most appealing recording.
I received my review copy from a publicist. This review appeared in the March-April 2020 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 389). Here she performs "On the Sunny Side of the Street."
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