Articles by Ed Felper

Maria Muldaur: A Woman Alone With The Blues

by Ed Felper
June 25, 2003

When Peggy Lee died last year, the jazz world--and the entire music world--lost one of its greatest balladeers and stylists. Simply put, when you hear Miss Peggy Lee's trademark hushed sensuality, you immediately recognize that her voice could belong to no one else. Maria Muldaur, a steamy chanteuse who made her name in blues and roots music in the ‘60s and ‘70s and then successfully shifted to jazz in the ‘80s, has resurrected Lee's ethos for A Woman Alone... (Ms. ...

Anita O'Day

by Ed Felper
February 17, 2003

On the cover of her 1960 album Incomparable!, a young and glamorous Anita O’Day wears an iridescent shade of green eyeliner. “And I still wear it,” she recently said over the phone from her Hollywood apartment. She’s not much of a talker, she admits, but she surely is a singer. While she isn’t the busiest woman in jazz, she is certainly one of the busiest 83-year-olds in jazz.

Last month, she packed the room at the Derby, a small but ...

Donna Byrne: Licensed to Thrill

by Ed Felper
December 13, 2002

Any recording titled Licensed to Thrill sets up a certain expectation. Unfortunately, the latest CD from the Boston-based vocalist rarely lives up to its promise. Byrne delivers a solid, competent set of pop and jazz standards, but her thin, reedy voice isn't particularly distinctive or compelling, much less thrilling. What sparkles are the nuanced, textured arrangements by bassist and husband Marshall Wood and the masterful performances by her sidemen. Scott Hamilton's soaring tenor sax underlines the light-hearted rhythms of “Nobody ...