Artswest: The Vocal Jazz Collective

by Artswest

Overview

Here's a rarity: an album, nearly a vanity album, featuring a group of high school vocal jazz students, that happens to be good. Not just good by the standards of student ensembles, but good by the standards of modern vocal jazz. The students here do have help. The backing band is an exceptionally strong one -- the main hands on deck for Origin Records -- and the arrangements are worked out (in large part by the individual singers) for a tone and mood that fit the singers' strengths. Many pieces become more ponderous, more thoughtful, more fitting of modern jazz. "Time After Time" is slowed down and given a deeper sense of longing by Cari Stevens' careful phrasing. "You Don't Know What Love Is" lets Leanne Robinson flow up and down the scales in the realm of Bobby McFerrin. Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" is reworked more recognizably, though a little closer to its original intent. The voices here have already developed past the level of the average torch singer, using complex phrasings to add vulnerability, disdain, and longing to every song. The nuance of the performances is the factor that sells them. An excellent showcase for modern vocal jazz that isn't just attempting to mimic Ella Fitzgerald or Lena Horne. ~ Adam Greenberg

Product Details

Release Date:	06/15/2010
Label:	Oa2 Records
UPC:	0805552206821

Tracks

1. My Man's Gone Now  - Camille Avery  - George Gershwin
2. You Don't Know What Love Is  - Don Raye  - LeAnne Robinson
3. Moon River  - Henry Mancini  - Johnny Mercer  - Georgia Sedlack
4. Time After Time  - Cari Stevens
5. Nothing Compares  -  Prince  - Fara Sumbureru
6. Much Farther to Go  - Karmen Wolf
7. My Funny Valentine  - Lorenz Hart  - Richard Rodgers  - Georgia Sedlack
8. Too Late Now  - LeAnne Robinson
9. City Called Heaven  - Harris Long  -  Traditional
10. Dienda  - Cari Stevens  -  Sting
11. Both Sides Now  - Karmen Wolf
12. Sparks  -  Coldplay  - Mary Thompson

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fara Sumbureru   Primary Artist
Cari Stevens   Primary Artist
Mary Thompson   Primary Artist
Camille Avery   Primary Artist
Harris Long   Primary Artist
Georgia Sedlack   Primary Artist
Karmen Wolf   Primary Artist
LeAnne Robinson   Primary Artist
Artswest   Primary Artist
Brent Jensen   Saxophone
John Bishop   Drums
Thomas Marriott   Trumpet,Flugelhorn
Justin Nielsen   Piano
Jeff Johnson   Bass
John McLean   Guitar

Technical Credits

Johnny Mercer   Composer
Reed Ruddy   Engineer,Mixing
Prince   Composer
Matjaz Slanic   Cover Photo
Justin Nielsen   Arranger
Sting   Composer
Henry Mancini   Composer
Coldplay   Composer
John Bishop   Cover Design
Jeff Baker   Producer,Liner Notes
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Lorenz Hart   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Don Raye   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Ross Nyberg   Mastering