(Diane Schuur, vocals; Randy Porter, piano; Dan Balmer, guitar; Scott Steed, bass; Reggie Jackson, drums)
Vocalist/pianist Diane Schuur has had a nearly three-decade-long career now, including two actual Grammys and three nominations. She recorded for some time for the GRP label and on her many albums walked the line between pop and jazz, but on this new one she returns to her jazz roots. Blessed with perfect pitch, the girl her parents began calling “Deedles” celebrates her parents’ favorite music in this CD. She is aided and abetted by two terrific jazzmen from Portland Oregon: pianist Randy Porter and guitarist Dan Balmer. Though the tunes are from another era, the arrangements by pianist Porter are very up-do-date and make for a fresh overall sound.
Some of the tunes are fairly retro, but Schuur has such a superb, pleasant-sounding delivery and tone that even the cynical are drawn in. Porter’s imaginative arrangements help in this area. Closing out the album are two low-quality tracks from the past which might seem out of place until one reads about their origin: The first is a 1964 recording of September in the Rain made by Schuur and her parents. One can only be amazed to hear that at the time Schuur was only ten years old – this sounds like a mature, highly professional singer! The closing track is Danny Boy, sung by Schuur for her mother in the mid-1960s, and again it’s a classic rendition.
TrackList: Nice Work If You Can Get It, Beginner’s Luck, They Say It’s Wonderful, Some Other Time, Blue Skies, Without a Song, It’s Magic, Taking a Chance on Love, The Good Life, If Someone Had Told Me, My Favorite Things, September in the Rain, Danny Boy.
– John Henry
