Articles by Mathew Bahl
Blindfold Test: Dena DeRose
by Mathew Bahl
With Dena DeRose you get the best of both worlds--a first rate jazz pianist who understands how to explore the rhythmic and harmonic potential of a song, and a superior singer capable of expressing every nuance in a lyric with intelligence and subtlety. Throw in her formidable skills as a composer, and you have a jazz artist to be reckoned with. DeRose's multiple talents are all on display on her fourth album, the superb Love's Holiday. Dena recently ...
Continue ReadingBarb Jungr and the Benefits of an Open Mind
by Mathew Bahl
Music fans can generally be divided into two camps: Those who see music as a world of ever-expanding possibilities and those who see music as a small island where the only good things are the familiar things. The irony, of course, is that jazz is a music created by people in the first category but supported by many people in the second. What the folks on their small islands end up missing out on is that indescribable thrill you get ...
Continue ReadingPaula West and the Art of Making Art
by Mathew Bahl
Jazz singing is like a horse race. To the casual eye, all the horses in the stall look the same. But they aren't. Some have more talent. Some are better trained. Some have better jockeys. Some are more exciting to watch. But no matter what we see or don't see, what the odds might be, or how much a horse has going for it, the same rule applies. It's all about who crosses the finish line first. If ...
Continue ReadingThe Continuing Evolution of Kurt Elling
by Mathew Bahl
"I feel like at this point in my career I don't have to prove that I can do fifteen different things to greater or lesser degrees of expertise." Kurt Elling is discussing the genesis of his latest record, Flirting With Twilight. “I've made these roller coaster rides every time," says the Chicago-based jazz singer referring to his four Grammy-nominated CDs on the Blue Note label. “Even on This Time, It's Love there were still these elements of the ...
Continue ReadingStarting Over with Dee Dee Bridgewater
by Mathew Bahl
In jazz, as in life, the most interesting path between two points is rarely a straight line. Consider the acclaimed jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater For much of the 1990s, Bridgewater engaged in what was arguably the decade's most dynamic, comprehensive and witty exploration of the idea of the human voice as an instrument. Along the way, she packed clubs and concert halls, released several commercially successful CDs, and became a fixture at the Grammy awards and in jazz polls. ...
Continue ReadingTierney Sutton: An Instrumentalist’s Singer
by Mathew Bahl
"Jazz demands something of you," says Tierney Sutton. The Los Angeles based singer is discussing the challenge of selling complicated, improvised music in a culture addicted to simple, pre-packaged formulas. “Being barraged in the media teaches people not to engage, not to seek great art, not to listen with their own ears, not to see with their own eyes," observes Sutton. “Jazz is this theme and variations work, and if the person who's listening is not interested in ...
Continue ReadingThe Jazz Education of Ian Shaw
by Mathew Bahl
A few notable exceptions aside, great jazz musicians are not born; they are created. Most young musicians start by absorbing the work of important influences and then, through practice and live performance, decide what to keep, what to modify and what to discard. Ultimately, originality is less a byproduct of inspiration and more the end result of a process of self-editing. That has certainly been the case with the Welsh jazz vocalist Ian Shaw. Now in his late ...
Continue ReadingDena DeRose: No More Detours Ahead
by Mathew Bahl
A pianist by instinct, a jazz musician by choice and a singer by accident, Dena DeRose has emerged as one of the most captivating and distinctive new voices in mainstream jazz. Anyone who has not heard her music should not be misled by her status as a singer/pianist specializing in the Great American Songbook. DeRose is neither a Shirley Horn clone nor a Diana Krall wannabe. Although she admires a wide range of singers, including Horn ("definitely on the top ...
Continue ReadingCarol Sloane on Singers and Songs: A Blindfold Test
by Mathew Bahl
Tell Carol Sloane you like one of her records and you will probably get the same reaction every time. She will smile graciously, thank you sincerely and then proceed politely to explain how she could have done the song better. Given her own exacting standards, not to mention her experience as a disc jockey and as a reviewer for Downbeat, it seemed natural to put Carol in the hot seat for a blindfold test. I Could Have Told ...
Continue ReadingCarol Sloane: Setting New Standards
by Mathew Bahl
In her concert appearances, Carol Sloane often sings a lovely ballad called “An Older Man is Like an Elegant Wine." Listening to Ms. Sloane extol the virtues of age and experience in a voice as soft and warm as angora wool, it is hard not to conclude that the sentiments of the lyric have an even more specific application to the art of jazz. The truth is that no matter how hot a young musician might be at a given ...
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