NEW RELEASES : Quality Time With Bessie, Brazil, Frishberg
SUSANNAH McCORKLE
“From Bessie to Brazil”
Concord Jazz
* * *
The improbable title is justified: In 1923 Bessie Smith recorded “My Sweetie Went Away,” to which vocalist McCorkle brings a Smith-like growl; “Adeus America” (English lyrics by McCorkle) and Jobim’s “The Waters of March” are sung in English and Portuguese.
Totally in control, caressing the melodies and relating to the words, this ever-confident singer offers a wealth of delights: the hilarious Dave Frishberg song “Quality Time,” the church-like gospel mood of Paul Simon’s “Still Crazy After All These Years,” the sensitive ballad groove of “You Go to My Head,” the aptly cheerful “Ac-Cent-Tchu-ate the Positive.”
Only two minor flaws lightly reduce the impact: a needless pseudo-rap interlude on “Thief in the Night” (but it’s a great old song, worth reviving) and “The Lady Is a Tramp,” trite and trivial and superannuated.
McCorkle’s backing is an eight-piece band with neat, unobtrusive arrangements and admirable work by Howard Alden on guitar.
Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).
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