Singer Terry Blaine likes to use her album releases as a vehicle for giving a nod to those who have influenced her. Among these are Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Lee Wiley, Helen Ward, Annette Hanshaw, Martha Tilton, Helen Forrest and Ethel Waters . For their fifth album together Blaine and long time accompanist Mark Shane have structured a program patterned after recordings made between 1929 and 1939 by Ethel Waters and J. P. Johnson for the Columbia label. With James P. Johnson in the mix, it's understandable why 1/3 of the play list belong to tunes by Fats Waller and Andy Razaf, including their lovely, underplayed "Lonesome Swallow". Blaine picks up several of the jazz influenced mannerisms that made Waters one of the top singers of her day before the movies beckoned, such as those cute second chorus embellishments. While at first hearing, these sound somewhat dated, they only add to the charm of Blaine's (and Water's) handling of these great tunes. Mark Shane captures the stride of James P. Johnson and the way Johnson used that device to highlight Water's vocal artistry, especially on such tunes as "Am I Blue" and "Willow Tree". There are a couple of ballads on the program, such as a lovely "Home (When Shadows Fall)", but mostly what we hear are the highly infectious rhythms of Blaine and Shane.
It's hard to imagine any two performers who can handle this material better than these two. With Blaine's dark, husky Lee Wiley like voice and Shane's delicate stride piano, this happy album is one that should be considered for the record collection. Visit Terry's and Mark's Jukebox Jazz site .
Track Listing
Squeeze Me; Lonesome Swallow; I Got Rhythm; My Handy Man; Memories
of You; Hate to Talk About Myself; Willow Tree; Am I Blue; I'm Glad There Is
You; Jeepers Creepers; River (Stay `Way from My Door); You Don't
Understand; Do what You Did Last Night; 100 Years from Today; Long
About Midnight; Shim Sham Shimmy Dance; Don't Cry Baby; Home (When
Shadows Fall)
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
We sent a confirmation message to . Look for it, then click the link to activate your account. If you don’t see the email in your inbox, check your spam, bulk or promotions folder.