Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sue Tucker: Meant for You

175

Sue Tucker: Meant for You

By

Sign in to view read count
Sue Tucker: Meant for You
Sue Tucker is one of the ever growing group of jazz singers who avoid vocal histrionics having adopted an unembellished straightforward approach to delivering the tunes they sing. There's no scatting, swooping or heavy breathing associated with their performances. They rely on fresh arrangements of standard material and are absolute masters of knowing how to enhance their delivery by using sideman to their best advantage. Tucker had a head start coming from a musical family. Not a family that just loved music, but who are active in jazz. Her father, Jack Oatts, was a jazz educator and her brother Jim is a trumpet/flugelhorn player and brother Dick is a saxophonist of note. She also feels that early training on the clarinet and sax left her with a greater understanding of the importance of understanding the instrumental mindset within a vocal context.

With this solid musical grounding, on her self-produced maiden album she successfully examines a variety of vocal styles and deliveries. Some cuts have a jam session feel with vocalist added like a bouncy "Too Close for Comfort" where multi-reedist Doug Haining alto trades fours with Rick Carlson's piano as Brett Forberg's drums lay down an unswerving solid beat topped off with a clever coda by Steve Pikal's bass. She becomes a torch singer, with blues undertones, on Sugar moved along by a raunchy Haining baritone sax. On an up tempo "A Foggy Day", Tucker shows her creativity as she plays around with the melody line. It works because of support from brother Jim, jazzy piano by Rick Carlson and perfectly timed drum breaks by Forberg. This is an awesome arrangement of a major entry in the Great American Popular Song Book. Complete relaxation characterizes "Easy Street" to the point of sensual lethargy. My favorite track is Bill Evans/Gee Lees' "Waltz for Debby" which Tucker really does in 3/4 time. Kent Saunders' guitar provides the bistro atmosphere for a tender "Blame It on My Youth". So it is, one track after another. Unembellished, no frills straight from the heart singing by a fine addition to the vocalist sorority. The highly recommended Meant for You is available directly from Sue at www.suetucker.com or can purchased from Amazon.

Track Listing

A Foggy Day#; You'd Be so Nice to Come to#; Sugar*; Easy Street#; I've Got the World on a String*; The Very Thought of You*; Too Close for Comfort#; Undecided*; Blame It on My Youth*; Waltz for Debbie#; Meant for You$

Personnel

Sue Tucker - Vocals; Jim Oatts - Trumpet/Flugelhorn; Doug Haining - Alto & Bari Sax/Clarinet; Kent Saunders - Guitar; Rick Carlson - Piano; Gordy Johnson*, Steve Pikal# - Bass; Gordy Knudtson*, Brett Forberg# - Drums; Ricky Peterson$ - Piano

Album information

Title: Meant for You | Year Released: 2001

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter 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.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.