CD Review: Jennifer Madsen, "Reimagine"

Vocalist Jennifer Madsen has given us a beautiful gift with her new CD Reimagine, an album in which she lovingly reinterprets some of the most beloved standards through her own musical lens. It takes rare courage and artistry to revisit songs that are so familiar, and still make them feel fresh, meaningful, and deeply personal. With Reimagine, she succeeds not by showing off, but by listening, shaping, and inhabiting each lyric with intelligence and heart.

What immediately strikes me is how Madsen combines technical command with emotional honesty. She knows the words, the phrasing, the tradition—but she also imagines: she lets us hear what she feels when she sings them. That dual gift—respect for the song’s history, and the freedom to re-express it—is the hallmark of an artist confident in her own voice. Even when you’ve heard a song a dozen times, Madsen makes you hear it again.

Offstage, she is also deeply committed: as an educator at Snow College in Utah, she mentors budding vocalists in jazz, commercial voice, and songwriting. She holds a monthly residency at The Edison House Club in Salt Lake City, creating real musical community and helping newer singers find their footing. She is exactly the kind of artist this field needs—grounded, generous, and fearless

These performances alone make this album worth listening to again and again—but the full experience of Reimagine is richer still. The sequencing flows like an evening set, with peaks, valleys, and quiet moments that leave space to reflect.

If you are anywhere near her region, I strongly encourage aspiring vocalists to seek out her workshops or classes. Jennifer Madsen is not just a jazz singer—she’s a mentor, a collaborator, and a torchbearer for the next generation of singers.

In short: Reimagine is not a mere collection of standards. It is a thoughtful, emotionally alive conversation—with the songs, the musicians, and the listener. Jennifer Madsen proves here that standards are not static relics—they can be fresh, open, and full of new life. This is a recording to cherish.

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PLAYLIST:

1. Body and Soul

2. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

3. Willow Weep for Me

4. Honeysuckle Rose

5. Beyond the Sea

6. I (Who Have Nothing)

7. Gone

8. In the Wee Small Hours

9. You Don’t Know What Love Is

10. Mean to Me

11. Someone to Watch Over Me

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PLAYERS:

• Jennifer Madsen — vocals

• Brent Edstrom — pianist and arranger 

• Clipper Anderson — bass 

• Mark Ivester — drums 

Guest / additional contributions (on select tracks) include:

• Sean Jones — flugelhorn (on Body and Soul) 

• Howard Levy — harmonica (on Beyond the Sea) 

I have attached two songs from "Reimagine".  These performances alone make this album worth listening to again and again—but the full experience of Reimagine is richer still. The sequencing flows like an evening set, with peaks, valleys, and quiet moments that leave space to reflect.

• “Someone to Watch Over Me” (George & Ira Gershwin), with superb piano and arranging from Brent Edstrom. Madsen treats each phrase like a little story, letting it breathe, unspooling the lyric with clarity and intention.

• “Willow Weep for Me”, also featuring Edstrom’s sensitive touch. Here she lingers in the emotional spaces, letting her interpretation unfold with nuance and depth.

                                                            "Someone To Watch Over Me"

                                                             "Willow Weep For Me"

CD Review: Kim Nazarian "Some Morning"

As a music reviewer I have the privilege of being introduced to many great new singers.  Kim Nazarian is not a great singer.  She is a brilliantly talented singer with vocal chops and exceptional timing that every singer yearns for!  Some singers can do ballads, some singers can scat along with up tempo tunes but Kim can do it all.  Her voice is golden and her approach to lyrics is spot on perfect.  Kim has the ability to enhance lyrics without getting in the way.  The result captures the essence of emotion that the composer had in mind, together with fitting her own personality into each song making them her own.  Grammy Award-nominee Kim Nazarian gained fame as a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Jazz vocal group, "New York Voices".

Kim is joined on this CD by the five time Grammy Award-winning producer and Trombonist Jay Ashby.  All the tunes on this CD are arranged in whole or in part by Ashby with help from Kim on several.  The arrangements are Sinatra-perfect and fit both Kim and the talented musicians on this CD perfectly!   Jay Ashby's Trombone performances are pure magic on this CD. The list of contributing musicians is wonderful including special guests: Gary Burton, Paquito D'Rivera, Sean Jones, and John Pizzarelli.  

Kim Nazarian's "Some Morning" is a sensationally good CD.  And how do I know that?  I tried to select a cut from this CD that would give you a feel of Kim's great singing and the fine talents of the musicians with her.  It took me an hour to select the two cuts below that I found on "YouTube" because I couldn't decide which ones were the best.  I loved every cut on the CD!

The First cut below is called "Robbin's Nest Boneology"  and it's a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Trombonist JJ Johnson. It will show the extent of Kim's vocal skills and Ashby's mellow Trombone sounds that blend perfectly together.

The Second "YouTube"  presents the song "Tell Him I Said Hello" that is a tribute to Better Carter from her big band vocalist, taking on a Bossa Nova spin.  This cut also contains a terrific Clarinet Solo from the brilliant Paquito D'Rivera.