Alexis Cole Takes Her Seat — And Jazz Is All the Better for It

Alexis Cole — "Taking My Seat"

Alexis Cole is a singer I have admired for years. She has been making beautiful music with her golden voice in jazz clubs and on major concert stages, both in the US and internationally. She has released 14 albums, received wonderful reviews, and established herself as one of the most popular jazz singers today.

Alexis has a pure, strong voice and phrasing that allows her to take classic songs from the Great American Songbook and make them sound brand new. But beautiful jazz singing is only one of Alexis's talents. She is also a world-class arranger, pianist, and composer.

Now, at 50, Alexis is using all of her talents on her newly released album, "Taking My Seat". She has brought two extremely talented musicians to join her trio and record her new CD. David Finck is one of the most outstanding jazz bass players in the country, and his specialty is breathing life into standards. Kenny Hassler joins the trio on drums, and the synergy between Kenny, David, and Alexis is wonderful.

It's hard to believe that after all these years of singing with both small and large groups of musicians, "Taking My Seat" is Alexis's first CD on which she also plays piano. She also created all the arrangements, except for "Get Out of Town," which she arranged with Scott Arcangel. Alexis even composed two songs for the album!

What I especially enjoy about an album like "Taking My Seat" is the opportunity to hear a great jazz singer bring her many talents together in one recording. Alexis Cole has the voice, the musical knowledge, and the experience to make these songs her own. With David Finck on bass and Kenny Hassler on drums, she also has the kind of musical support that allows a trio to sound both relaxed and exciting. For me, that is one of the great pleasures of listening to classic jazz performed by musicians who truly understand the music.

Alexis Cole's résumé is packed with super achievements, but her new CD puts her in a class that few musicians ever reach! She is an American jazz treasure, and I look forward to many more years of classic jazz performances from Alexis!

I have selected two songs from "Taking My Seat "that I think illustrate Alexis Cole's talents at their best.

The first is the old Cole Porter chestnut, "Get Out of Town," which has never sounded better. The second is the Brazilian classic written by Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli, "My Little Boat."

Both songs are wonderful examples of what makes Alexis such a special artist. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I have.

 Players:

• Alexis Cole — Vocals, piano, arranging
• David Finck — Bass
• Kenny Hassler — Drums
• Scott Arcangel — Arranging credit for "Get Out of Town" (shared with Alexis Cole)

 Playlist:

1. "Bye Bye Blackbird"

2. "Get Out of Town"

3. "My Little Boat"

4. "Blues for All Us"

5. "Monentary Lapse of Happiness"

6. "The Girl from Ipanema"

7. "My Funny Vallentine"

8. "Jitterbug  Waltz"

9. "Here's to Life"

10. "Night and Day"

11. "Yesterdays" 

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Alexis Cole is a singer I have admired for years.  She has been making beautiful music with her golden voice in Jazz clubs and major concert stages in both the US and internationally.  She had released 14 albums for which she has received wonderful reviews and also established her as one of the most popular Jazz singers today.  Alexis has a pure, strong voice and phrasing that allows her to take classic songs from the "Great American Songbook" and make them sound brand new.  But beautiful Jazz singing is only one of Alexis's talents.  She is a world class arranger,  pianist and composer.  Now at 50, Alexis is using our of her talents in her newly released album, "Taking My Seat".  She has brought two extremely talented musicians to join her trio and record her new cd.  David Finck is one of the most outstanding Jazz Bass players in the country and his speciality is breathing life into standards.  Kenny Hassler joins the trio on Drums and the synergy between Kenny, David and Alexis is wonderful.

It's hard to believe that after all the years that Alexis has singing with both small and large group of musicians that "Taking My Seat" is her first cd where in additional to singing she also plays piano.  She also created all the arrangements except for "Get Out of Town" where she shared the arranging with Scott Arcangel.  Alexis also composed two songs for her album!   Alexis Cole's resume is packed with super achievements but her new cd puts her in a class that few musicians every reach!  She is an American Jazz treasure and I look forward to many more years of classic Jazz performances from Alexis!

I have selected two songs from "Get Out of Town" that I think illustrate the best talents of Alexis Cole.  The first song is the old Cole Porter chestnut,  "Get Out of Town" that never sounded better. The second song is the Brazilian classic written by Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Boscili, "My Little Boat".   

                                                                    "Get Out of Town"

                                                                    "My Little Boat"

CD Review: David Finck, "BASSically JAZZ"

I know that a lot of followers of the "Musician Blog" are excellent, professional Bass players who probably know all about David Finck, but he was new to me.  I have to confess that the Bass is one of my favorite instruments.  Although the Bass is an integral part of the rhythm section, it can add much more than rhythm to music.  When in the hands of an expertly trained professional, it has its own unique voice.  I have observed while listening to hundreds of Bass players over the years that there is one characteristic that all great Bass players have that might surprise you. . . the passion for melody.  This passion includes an understanding and interpretation of the emotion of the melody. David Finck in his new CD, "BASSically JAZZ" gives us an opportunity to experience the unique voice a Bass which can produce sounds, textures and pictures it can paint without uttering one spoken word.   But most of all, David Finck shows his audience that he understands and loves great melodies.  "These days melody has become a rare commodity in popular music. I miss the richness of real songwriting" says David.  I could not agree with him more.  So much so, that when I listen and evaluate a new Bass player,  my first wish is for the player to perform a classic standard.

David Finck is one of the most versatile Bassists in or out of Jazz.  He has performed with major stars from all genres of music including Dizzy Gillespie, Andre Previn, Rosemary Clooney, George Michael, Phil Woods, Kenny Rankin, Hank Jones, Paquito D'Rivera just to name a few on his rich resume.  David can play all genres of music, he says, " at the end of the day, I still want to play melodically.  Like all my albums, this one is about music the way I want to hear it.  It's not all Jazz but it's basically a Jazz record.  That's why we call it BASSically JAZZ".

Playlist:

Players:
David Finck- Bass
Joe Locke- Vibes
Jim Rudl- Piano
Cliff Almond- Drums
Ali Ryerson- Flute
Bob Mann- Guitar
Kevin Windard- Percussion
Mike Davis- Trombone

It was very hard to pick just two songs to attach to this blog because all 12 cuts on this wonderful CD are so musically pleasing so I picked 3 great standards.  The first YouTube features the entire group with David Finck providing a beautiful, exciting and creative solo on the popular Jazz standard "Old Devil Moon" written by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg and Burton Lane .   It features Joe Locke playing Vibes that bring to mind the George Shearing Quintet. The Second YouTube presents the band playing "Alfie" which David says "is one of the most unusual pop songs of all time-very beautiful and melodic and complicated" as are most of the beautiful songs composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  The last song "The Summer Knows" written by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman features the beautiful strong and crystal-clear voice of Linda Eder plus outstanding bow work from David Finck.

                                                                 "Old Devil Moon"

                                                                          "Alfie"

 "The Summer Knows"