Showing posts with label Sue Tucker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sue Tucker. Show all posts

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Sue Tucker - Back Home

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:24
Size: 110.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[3:09] 1. Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
[3:50] 2. Will You Still Be Mine
[3:50] 3. Lullaby In Rhythm
[3:10] 4. Day Dream
[3:06] 5. Whisper Not
[4:13] 6. When Lights Are Low
[4:20] 7. Exactly Like You
[3:37] 8. That Old Feeling
[3:57] 9. Bye Bye Baby
[4:33] 10. Beautiful Love
[3:28] 11. Under A Blanket Of Blue
[3:21] 12. Soon
[3:42] 13. Why Did I Choose You

Sue Tucker: vocals; Tanner Taylor: piano; Gary Raynor: bass; Kent Saunders: guitar; Luis Santiago: congas.

For her third album, singer Sue Tucker wanted to try something different. Her concept was to explore a more earthy jazz vocal album in which "jazz meets the gravel road" through the use of rhythm guitar instead of drums. She was also seeking less familiar tunes with great melodies and lyrics that apply to today's environment—and which haven't been overexposed on recordings. Appropriately, the album is titled Back Home.

Sue Tucker comes from a most musical family. Her father, Jack Oatts, was one of Iowa's first jazz educators; her brothers are trumpeter Jim Oatts and the much-recorded reedman Dick Oatts. The singer also has woodwind training and experience. Her last album, May I Come In (2004), benefited from the presence of Dick Oats, Ted Rosenthal, Joe Magnarelli and John Mosca. Here she utilizes local talent: pianist Tanner Taylor, bassist Gary Raynor and conguero Luis Santiago; the only familiar face from previous sessions is the guitarist, Kent Saunders.

I really enjoyed May I Come In, especially the mix of relatively obscure songs and Tucker's ability to make them swing. I don't know that the choice of material is any different on this album. Sue Tucker has a bit of a Susannah McCorkle-ish lilt to her voice and manages once again to make the music come alive.

The well-trodden Strayhorn/Ellington tune "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'" opens the album in a mid-tempo pace, and Tucker smartly rides it along with Taylor. The Benny Goodman/Edgar Sampson piece "Lullaby in Rhythm" remains an untouched jazz vocal on contemporary recordings. The lyrics to Benny Golson's "Whisper Not" and Benny Carter's "When Lights Are Low," by Spencer Williams, make a solid choice for the singer, complemented by an arco solo from Raynor. Raynor also begins the Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh standard "Exactly Like You" with a bass intro and then a duet with Tucker. Saunders takes a tasty guitar solo on the break.

On the Leo Robin/Jule Styne tune "Bye Bye Baby," Tucker begins with the sweetly voiced verse and then shifts into a swing tempo, with Kent Saunders taking a burning solo on guitar. On Victor Young's "Beautiful Love," a tune long associated with Bill Evans, Tucker chooses a rarely tackled vocal with some assistance from Santiago. The album concludes with a touching and effective ballad, a Broadway tune from Martin and Leonard, "Why Did I Choose You." ~Michael P. Gladston

Back Home

Monday, July 14, 2014

Sue Tucker - Meant for You

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:04
Size: 114,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:02)  1. A Foggy Day
(3:45)  2. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
(4:01)  3. Sugar
(4:32)  4. Easy Street
(5:34)  5. I've Got The World On A String
(5:11)  6. The Very Thought Of You
(4:06)  7. Too Close For Comfort
(6:18)  8. Undecided
(5:21)  9. Blame It On My Youth
(3:41) 10. Waltz For Debbie
(2:27) 11. Meant For You

I have to admit that, for very superficial reasons, I did not have high expectations for Sue Tucker's Meant for You. An unknown Minnesota-based singer performing standards on a CD produced, engineered, manufactured and distributed by the singer and her husband. It had the feel of a housewife's vanity project. The CD packaging is not exactly eye-catching, and I recognize that this is ridiculous, but even her name sounded boring. However, I'm pleased to report that there is nothing boring about the music on Meant for You. Sue Tucker is a wonderful singer. Not just better than expected or good for an unknown singer, but straight out wonderful. As with every good jazz singer, Ms. Tucker has the fundamentals down - she sings in tune and she swings hard. Her voice has a light, unforced, attractive tone. Stylistically, she falls into the traditional jazz singing school. The standards are not in 12/8 time and you won't find any rock tunes in her repertoire. There are no radical reinterpretations of standards or bold expansions of the art of jazz singing. She doesn't vocalize instrumental solos or even scat. 

Rather than sounding like Ella or Sarah or Anita, Ms. Tucker's style is more reminiscent of great classic jazz singers like Mildred Bailey and Connee Boswell. She improvises within the words adhering closely to the melody at first and then building on and expanding her variations as the tune progresses. Her relaxed, understated phrasing breathes new life into "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "I've Got the World on a String." Ms. Tucker builds genuine excitement on "Too Close for Comfort" and "Undecided" without resorting to overheated theatrics. Her sensitive, thoughtful interpretations of "The Very Thought of You" and "Blame It On My Youth" demonstrate a deep appreciation for the meaning of lyrics. The album's highpoint comes in a sexy, swinging, unmissable version of "Sugar" (the Stanley Turrentine tune not the Maceo Pinkard tune associated with Lee Wiley). Sue Tucker is a singer who shouldn't have to make her own records. She deserves the support of a good record label and the opportunity to be heard by the national jazz audience. ~ Mathew Bahl  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/meant-for-you-sue-oatts-tucker-review-by-mathew-bahl.php#.U73KUrFrzIs
 
Personnel: Sue Tucker: vocals; Jim Oatts: trumpet/fugelhorn; Doug Haining: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet; Kent Saunders: guitar; Rick Carlson: piano; Gordy Johnson: bass; Steve Pikal: bass; Gordy Knudtson: drums; Brett Forberg: drums; Ricky Peterson: piano.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Sue Tucker - May I Come In

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2003
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:21
Size: 89,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:58)  1. The Best Thing for You
(4:12)  2. If You Don't See It Too
(5:12)  3. May I Come In
(3:54)  4. It Could Happen to You
(2:32)  5. Like Someone in Love
(2:50)  6. I'm Gonna Laugh You Right out of My Life
(2:39)  7. You Turned the Tables on Me
(2:48)  8. Long Ago (And Far Away)
(2:46)  9. Any 'Ol Thing That You Like
(3:10) 10. I'll Remember April
(4:15) 11. The Gentleman Is A Dope

Good things come in small packages! With May I Come In, Minnesota jazz singer Sue Tucker provides nine standards and two original compositions with a first class group of musicians. She harkens back to an era when girl singers, like Chris Connor or June Christy, just sang without gimmicks or artifice, melisma or multi-tracking. Also, there are no show-stopping vocal techniques or three octave range'and if you're looking for improvisational vocalese or scatting techniques, they're not here. What makes this album work is that Sue Tucker knows how to swing these tunes. Tucker comes from a musical family. Her father, Jack Oatts, was one of Iowa's first jazz educators; her brothers are trumpeter Jim Oatts and the much recorded reedman Dick Oatts. The singer also has woodwind training and experience. 

The presence of such A-List personnel as Dick Oatts, Ted Rosenthal, Joe Magnarelli and John Mosca also enhance the album. The session begins smartly with Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing For You," with a tasty Mosca trombone solo, and continues with Tucker's own ballad "If You Don't See It Too," with Oatts taking a lyrical alto spot. The title tune, a rather obscure Fisher-Segal ballad, is followed by a number of brightly arranged visits with the Great American Songbook. The torch song "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life" is taken at an usually bright tempo but it seems to work. Her two compositions mesh perfectly with the other tunes. An earlier recording, Meant to Be , from 2000, was also self-produced and likely difficut to find. ~ Michael P.Gladstone   http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=13830#.U0iSIVdSvro
 
Personnel: Sue Tucker,vocals; Dick Oatts, woodwinds; John Mosca, trombone; Joe Magnarelli, trumpet; Ted Rosenthal, piano; Kent Saunders,bass; Andy Watson, drums; Marc Anderson, percussion.