CD Releases: A Handful of New and Noteworthy Albums

Revisiting Elis Regina (Madalena Music) is the debut album Brazilian-born, New York-based singer and actor Darwin Del Fabro, best known for Blumhouse Productions’ slasher film They/Them. Singing in Portuguese, Del Fabro reinvents classic songs of the legendary Brazilian singer Elis Regina (1945-1982), considered among South America’s pioneering and influential vocalists. The singer offers an understated vocal delivery supported by elegantly subtle strings and brass. Del Fabro presents Regina classics such as “Atrás da porta” (“Behind the Door”), “O bêbado e a equilibrista” (“The Drunk and the Tightrope Walker”), “Casa no campo” (“Country House”), “Alô, alô, marciano” (“Hello, Hello, Martian”), “Tatuagem” (“Tattoo”) and others.

Back to the Garden (Club44 Records) is a potent mix of golden age standards, pop gems of the Woodstock generation and special surprises sung by popular and versatile cabaret and concert artist, Natalie Douglas. Highlights include a big band arrangement of the Cole Porter classic “Begin the Beguine;” a lilting version on the ballad “You’ll Never Know,” with a creative string arrangement; a jazz age take on the Kern, Hammerstein and Harbach gem “Who?;” and a driving rock-inspired interpretation of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” The emotional centerpiece of the album is “Love Is the Power That Heals Me,” a soaring anthem written just for Douglas by Club44 label co-founders Wayne Haun and Joel Lindsey.

Visions (Blue Note) is Norah Jones’ ninth solo studio album release in collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels. The nine-time GRAMMY winning singer, songwriter and pianist wrote the lead single “Running” with Michels and features her on vocals, piano, guitar, and bass with Michels on drums and baritone saxophone. Visions is a 12-song set, which Jones says is “kind of garage-y but also kind of soulful.”, because that’s where he’s coming from, but also not overly perfected.” Visions also features contributions from trumpeter Dave Guy, bassist Jesse Murphy, and drummers Brian Blade and Homer Steinweiss.

I’ll Take Romance (Doxie Records) is vocalist Jane Scheckter’s fifth album and features a collection of  17 tunes from the American Songbook and beyond. The singer is a New York mainstay, a Bistro Award winner and a five-time MAC award nominee. Her band includes Tedd Firth musical director, pianist and arranger; bass player Jay Leonhart and drummer Peter Grant, with cornetist and flugelhorn player Warren Vaché. Singer Nicolas King also guests.The tracks include smart, cosmopolitan love songs with her warm voice and conversational style, infused every song with swing, including “Isn’t It a Pity,” “If Love Were All,” “A Beautiful Friendship,” “Love I Hear” and more.

Dreamland (OA2 Records) was inspired by the Johnny Mercer classic “Hit the Road to Dreamland,” evoking the state of mind for singer Libby York. DreamLand was born from that landscape and York’s chance encounter with guitarist Randy Napoleon, who was accompanying Freddie Cole at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase. Randy’s playing and warm enthusiastic manner set the stage for their gathering in the studio for this intimate set of songs, which includes “Estrada Branca (This Happy Madness),” “Cloudy Morning,” “Rhode Island Is Famous for You,” “When October Goes,” “Throw It Away” and more.

à Fleur de Peau (Whirlwind Recordings) means “on the surface of the skin”—figuratively a sensitive person— and is Cyrille Aimée’s ode to her French-Dominican roots and her residence for most of the year in a self built home, off-grid community in Tacotal, Costa Rica. The album features her own compositions, full of the influences of African dance rhythms and Spanish folk songs, with lyrics that are inspired by her experiences, covering  jazz and pop styles and the dance rhythms of the Caribbean.

Some Other Time(Center Stage Records) is the sophomore album from Broadway’s leading baritone, Steven Pasquale, showcasing the singer’s Pasquale’s “generational voice” and the jazz guitar of John Pizzarelli. The album features ten standards of the great American songbook, paying homage to the golden era of jazz such as “Stardust,” “Smile,” “The Impossible Dream” and “When I Fall In Love” with direct, “no-frills” presentation. The mood of Some Other Time evokes duo-collaborations such as Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass and Sammy Davis Jr. and Laurindo Almeida. The album was produced by Grammy Award-winning Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey.

On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines (Anzic Records) is Alaska-raised, New York City-based vocalist Hilary Gardner’s nostalgic tribute to the American West. The music paints soundscapes of the archetypal cowboy’s life on the trail—of pale dawns, purple hills and the high lonesome feeling of camping out beneath a vast, star-filled sky. In a return to her roots, Gardner began delving into repertoire from the “singing cowboy” era of the 1930s-40s, discovering a treasure trove of material ranging from atmospheric ballads tinged with melancholy to swing with a sense of humor. While most of the album’s twelve tracks were new discoveries for Gardner, one song was an old friend: Johnny Mercer’s 1936 tongue-in-cheek paean to urban cowboys, “I’m an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande).”

Don’t Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle by Permanent Moves (Shane Chapman and Julia Sirna-Frest), the indie-electro-folk-rock duo, features their original music, which has a unique blend of eclectic orchestrations and soaring harmonies. Their forthcoming concept album, Don’t Forget Us: A Chekhovian Song Cycle, uses the work of Anton Chekhov as inspiration. The project features Chris Giarmo (American Utopia), Jessie Shelton (Hadestown), Karl Blau, Starr Busby and many other special guests. It also features translations by Laurence Senelick. A pre-release video of “200 Years” can be viewed here. According to the artists,  Chekhov’s work speaks to the existential questions we often sit around talking about, particularly in this post-pandemic world.

You and I (Blujazz Records) is Dianne Fraser’s debut album, an homage to the words and music of Leslie Bricusse. Pianist and arranger is Todd Schroeder, with bassist Adam Cohen. The album features a medley of two songs from the movie Dr. Dolittle, a rendition of “At the Crossroads” and a jaunty take on “After Today.” Fraser also covers “Feeling Good” from the musical The Roar of The Greasepaint—The Smell of The Crowd. There;s also a mashup of “Crazy World” (music by Henry Mancini) and “If I Ruled the World” (with Cyril Ornadel). Among the many other tunes on the album, Fraser closes with “Two for the Road” by Mancini and Bricusse, an intimate song she dedicates to her husband.

You Showed Me the Way (California Soul Music) is soul singer Cliff Beach’s first foray into a full album of jazz standards. Most of his earlier work featured his original music, but for this album, he contributed just one original song. Instead, he dedicated the album to Ella Fitzgerald and chose songs from her songbook. This is also the first album where he does not play piano, leaving the keyboards for his principal arranger, Munenori “Moon” Kishi. Opener, “That Old Black Magic” is swinging and funky, while Beach puts his own spin on other chestnuts such as “Round Midnight,” “Love You Madly,” “Alright, OK You Win,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “How High the Moon,” “I’m Beginning to See the Light” and more. He closes the album with his original composition “The Gift of the Blues,” a tune that sounds as if it was written in an earlier era.

Things Are Looking Up is vocalist Queen Esther’s mix of lost classics from Lady Day—Billie Holiday—plus original songs, in a swinging, jazzy style. The 12 tracks include the eponymous “Things Are Looking Up;” opener, “Blow, Blossoms;” piano and bassfeatured on “Detour Ahead;” “Gold Standard;” the bluesy “Clean Blue Flame” and more, closing with “If The Moon Turns Green.” The Jeremy Bacon (piano) Trio with bassist Thomson Kneeland and drummer Shawn Balthazor provide solid accompaniment.

Lotta Livin‘ is pianist, singer and composer Betty Bryant’s 14th album—and she’s lost none of her hipness at age 94. She’s effortlessly cool and reflects her blues roots, along with her long-standing band of drummer Kenny Elliot, bassist Richard Simon and saxophonist/flutist Robert Kyle. Also joining Bryant  are Hussain Jiffry on electric bass and guitarist Kleber Jorge on one number and trumpeter Tony Guerrero on two tracks. Los Angeles-based Bryant, with an international career,populates the nine tracks of the CD with a few standards as well as originals.

Making It Up as We Go Along (Café Pacific Records) reflects vocalist Lauren White’s preference for songs that capture the complexities of loving relationships that come with time and maturity. On this, her fifth album, she chose eleven songs that look at love in all its intricacies and convolutions. Most of the songs on the album are off the beaten path. Some are written by pop artists such as Donald Fagen and Stevie Wonder, while others are jazz tunes written by lesser-known artists including Ron Boustead and Greek composer Mimis Plessas—but White also includes standards. Opener is Donald Fagen’s “I’m Not the Same Without You.”  “I’m Glad There is You” is her nod to the Great American Songbook, while “Tin Tin Deo” is a jazz standard usually associated with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, but co-composed by Gil Fuller and Luciano “Chano” Pozo. “Making It Up as We Go Along,” the title tune, was composed by Eddie Arkin with lyrics by Lorraine Feather.