By Andrew Poretz***Pop and jazz singer Paloma Dinely Chesky (her father is pianist David Chesky, and mother, Patrícia Dinely, is a Brazilian-born classical actor), who now goes by her first name, returned to Birdland Jazz, where she packed the house for a recent early Sunday set. The show was an 
album release concert for Memory, which dropped this June. Paloma is also a songwriter, and the set mixed i her original compositions with several standards. Supporting her were Maxwell Barnes (tenor saxophone), music director Michael Hilgendorf (guitar), Chris Ramirez (bass) and Danno Peterson (drums).
The striking young singer possesses remarkable poise and stage presence, especially considering she is only 18. Paloma has a rich mezzo voice and excellent command over it. She opened with a somewhat updated arrangement of “Summertime” (George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward), followed by an original, “Green”—a well-constructed song musically and lyrically; her voice here was reminiscent of another one-named singer, Sade.
Accompanied solely by Hilgendorf’s guitar, she offered “When the Moon’s Away” with delay, reverb and echo effects, which made for an otherworldly, ethereal effect, with an overall sound like Pat Metheny. Though this worked for 
this song, Hilgendorf used these pedals for much of the set, which caused too many songs to sound the same.
A cover of “The House of the Rising Sun” (traditional) showed Paloma’s feel for the blues, but she and the band were at their best on the bossa nova standard “Corcovado” (Antonio Carlos Jobim), aka “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” (English lyrics by Gene Lees), flawlessly sung in Portuguese, with an outstanding bass solo by Ramirez. In the hypnotic, almost trance inducing original title song, “Memory,” Paloma sings about saying goodbye, first vocalizing a Middle Eastern-sounding vocalese. The song came alive when Peterson’s drums kicked in. Paloma’s final original, “Sober Now,” about recovery from toxic relationships, is very poppy, with hit potential, and was a show highlight. 
A fake stop confused the audience, which Paloma realized with amusement as she continued to sing.
Paloma is a singer to keep an eye on. She has a wealth of talent as a singer and songwriter, and is a remarkably mature performer for 18. At times, she was overpowered by an aggressive attack by the rhythm section and as music director, Hilgendorf was the weak link He is a technically competent guitarist, but overused “ethereal settings,” focusing on solos made of pentatonic and mixolydian runs, more suited to rock and roll. So, although there were enough jazz elements to justify a spot at Birdland, over all the show had more of a Bitter End folk-rock vibe, especially since, with the exception of the dark-suited Peterson’s, the others in the band appeared more sartorially like a rock band, which added to this vibe.
Photos by Veronika Surla
