JAZZ : NEW RELEASES : In Brief
** 1/2 Dorothy Donegan, “Live at the 1990 Floating Jazz Festival,” Chiaroscuro. Donegan, who several decades ago took some pointers from Art Tatum, must give some bass players nightmares. She changes tunes and tempos without warning, tosses in waterfall runs and fancy spread chords, concocts improbable medleys (one track goes from “Someday My Prince Will Come” to “Jitterbug Waltz” to “Tiger Rag”) and even adds her vocal impression of Billie Holiday. Along with traces of Tatum you may detect touches of Oscar Levant, Liberace and even Jonathan Edwards; but that’s all part of her game plan, which is aimed at entertainment. For the final, voice-only cut, Donegan reminisces amusingly about her career.
New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent). A rating of five stars is reserved for classic reissues or retrospectives.
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