(Roseanna Vitro, vocals; Kenny Werner, keyboards/arranger; with Randy Brecker, Ray Anderson, Rocky Bryant, James Carter, Geoff Countryman, John Patitucci & Adam Rogers)
Not many jazz vocalists stimulate me to get fingers to keyboard but this lady who carries the soubriquet “the Texas Tornado” does it for sure. The artwork on the cover portrays a seance, and the description in the notes is pretty apt: at the seance Janis Joplin has a seat next to Mose Allison, Nine Simone next to Tracy Nelson, and Annie Ross next to Tower of Power. This lady can really belt ‘em out, but she’s got a wide repertory of approaches too; it’s not all Joplinesque high power.
The tune choices are great, sort of unexpected with this genre and type of delivery – tunes like What Is Hip? and Be Cool. The band is incredible, filled with great performers who give their all. The live setting at the Blue Note captures the maximum excitement of the moment. This is not the sort of thing avid blues fans will necessarily jump on, but the average jazz fan should dig it the most!
TrackList:
What is Hip?, Goodnight Nelda Grebe – The Telephone Company Has Cut Us Off, Blue, Be Cool, Half Moon, In the Dark, Cheater Man, Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy, Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down.
– John Henry
