CD Review: Roseanna Vitro, "Sing A Song Of Bird"

 

Vocalist Roseanna Vitro has just released her new CD, "Sing A Song Of Bird" that is a celebration of  Alto Sax player Charlie "Bird" Parker.   She conceived and created this project because of her desire to develop new lyrics to Charlie Parker tunes.  The results provide all of us with some wonderful and creative Jazz sounds and lyrics.   Roseanna is joined vocally on this CD by three truly outstanding Jazz Vocalists,  Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough and Marion Cowings, all three favorites of hers.  Together these four Jazz Vocalists, all Charlie Parker admirers put together new lyrics to six of his compositions.  

"Sing A Song Of Bird" is more than a celebration of Bird's music.  This CD is very special because at the time it was recorded Bob Dorough was 94 and has since pasted while Sheila Jordan is 89 and is still going strong.

Roseanna Vitro is a brilliant musician still performing and creating new and exciting Jazz ideas.  Everything she touches is performed at the highest professional Jazz level.  She remains a major link for all Jazz fans to our rich American Jazz history which helps to keep Jazz alive forever! 

I have attached two "YouTube" selections of this fun Album.  The first one, "Grapple With The Apple" is a solo by Roseanna Vitro scatting at her usual high level.  She is joined by Mark Gross on Sax, Jason Teborek on Piano,  Dean Johnson on Bass and Bill Goodwin on Drums.   The Second selection is "Parker's Mood" a terrific Blues tune sung by Marion Cowings.  Marion is joined by special guest Gary Bartz on Alto Sax.  Gary provides some wonderful Sax work along with the always great Alan Broadbent on Piano, Dean Johnson on Bass and Alvester Garnett on Drums.

                                                             "Grapple With The Apple"

                                                                     "Parker's Mood"

Playlist:

1. People Chase

2. The Scatter

3. Bird's Song

4. Parker's Mood

5. Grapple With The Apple

6. Audubon's New Bluebird

7. Sheila, Jazz Child

8. Quasimodo

9. Now's The Time

10. Yardbird Suite

11. Koko / Cherokee

12. These Foolish Things

Players:

Roseanna Vitro- Vocals

Bob Dorough- Vocals

Sheila Jordan- Vocals

Marion Cowings- Vocals

Jason Teborek-Piano

Dean Johnson- Bass

Mark Gross- Alto Sax

Gary Bartz- Alto Sax

Alan Broadbent- Piano

Alvester Garnett- Drums

                                                           

CD Review: Sheila Jordan, "Comes Love"

 

Singer/Songwriter Sheila Jordan is still going strong at the age of 92.  She was unknown to me before I received a review copy of a CD Sheila recorded on June 10, 1960.  You might think that it would be hard to be impressed by a CD recording made over 60 years ago but you would be wrong.  Shelia Jordan is one of the few singers I have heard who knows what Jazz singing is all about.  What a pleasure to listen to her unique voice and effortless Jazz phrasing.  According to Sheila, most of her musical influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers.  This is not the first time that I have heard this comment coming from an outstanding Jazz singer.  Her greatest influence, and mine also by the way, was Charlie Parker.  She married pianist Duke Jordan and studied with Lennie Tristano.  She did not begin recording until the early 60's.

This CD recording was lost for a long while but was unearthed by record dealers Jeremy Sloan and Hadley Kenslow who purchased it among a large collection of acetates several years ago.  Jordan has no recollection of the names of her accompanists who are wonderful.  The CD was released by Tom Burns, the owner and founder of Capri Records who had this to say about the supporting group of musicians,  " Whoever is playing on it is really good. The group seems to have an empathic relationship with her".

I wanted to mention a quote from another world-class singer from this same period for whom I recently published a review of a new release of one of her old CDs,  Roseanna Vitro. Roseanna had this to say about Sheila Jordan, "Sheila Jordan is a one-of-a-kind artist who possesses the power to captivate audiences, inviting all to join her on a magical mystery tour of Jazz history".

This CD was re-released on September 17, 2021 on Capri Records and I highly recommend it.  I have attached a YouTube of Sheila singing the title tune from the CD, "Comes Love".   It's just terrific!  I also found another you TubeTube of Sheila singing "I Thought About You" that was from her CD "Straight Ahead" which was released on October 13, 2015.  It will give you a wonderful comparison between the younger and older Sheila Jordan.  Spoiler,  she is great on both cuts!

Playlist:

1.  I'm The Girl

2.  It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 

3. Ballad of the "Sad Young Men"

4. Comes Love

5. Don't Explain

6. Sleeping Bee

7. When the World Was Young

8. I'll take Romance

9. These Foolish Things

10. Glad TO Be Unhappy

11. They Can't Take That Away From Me.

                                                                      "Comes Love"

                                                                     "I Thought About You"

CD Review: Roseanna Vitro, "Listen Here"

 

While a reviewer's job is to look for new talents and new material, I find it so satisfying when I uncover a musical gem that I missed.  In this case, it's the reissue of Roseanna Vitro's 1984 debut album, "Listen Here" featuring The Kenny Barron Trio. This wonderful CD launched Vitro's long career as a performer, recording artist, educator and journalist.  Even though this was her first CD, Vitro's performance matches even the most mature Jazz singers.  Singing a playlist of Jazz standards, Vitro applies her own unique touch to these evergreens bringing her own style and sense of swing to each of them.  Esteemed Jazz journalist Neil Tesser had this to say in USA Today: "Roseanna can sing rings around half the vocalists you can name.  Her warm, confident clarity of tone is immediately noticeable, but most startling is her boldness of phrasing."  I couldn't agree more!

What really puts this over the top is the group that accompanied Roseanna on this CD.  To say they were great hardly expressed the level of their musical skills.  The supporting Trio is made up of Kenny Barron on Piano, Buster Williams on Bass, Ben Riley on Drums.  Joining this super Trio is Arnett Cobb on Sax, Duduka Da Fonseca on Percussion, Scott Hardy on Guitar and Bliss Rodriguez on Piano for cut # 3, "Centerpiece".  The arrangements were written by the always remarkable Fred Hersch.  This group of talented musicians along with the remarkable voice and phrasing of Roseanna Vitro have produced a CD that any Jazz fan would love!

I have chosen two songs from this CD for you to enjoy.  The first one is "No More Blues" and the second one is "You Took Advantage of Me".

"No More Blues"

"You Took Advantage of Me"

Playlist:

1. No More Blues

2. You Go To My Head

3. Centerpiece

4. Love You Madly

5. A Time For Love

6. This Happy Madness

7. Listen Here

8. It Could Happen To You

9. Easy Street

10. Sometime Ago

11. You Took Advantage Of Me

12. Black Coffee

Players:

Roseanna Vitro- Vocals

Kenny Barron- Piano

Buster Williams- Bass

Arnett Cobb- Sax #3, 4, 8

Bliss Rodriguez- Piano #3

Scott Hardy- Guitar  #6

Duduka Da Fonseca- Percussion #1, 6

Arrangements: Fred Hersch