Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ya-Ya Fornier: Bearcat

172

Ya-Ya Fornier: Bearcat

By

View read count
Ya-Ya Fornier: Bearcat
Termed a “debut” album, Bearcat features vocalist Ya Ya Fornier, veteran saxophonist David Murray, and bassist Jaribu Shahid, along with a score of guest musicians. Though this album represents the first recording venture for Fornier, wife of the late Vernel Fornier, it is certainly not the first time Ya Ya has been around recording, which may have encouraged her to take this leap late in an already jazz-infused life.

A sentimental mix of standards and originals, Fornier's CD is dubbed a tribute album dedicated to Sandy Jordan, and, it seems, recorded in honor of the jazz lifestyle, many of the songs depicting late-night sessions, late-night shows, and late-night friendships.

On such pieces as “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” by Duke Ellington and his own swinging “Live the Life,” Murray shows himself a soulful, if somewhat conventional, soloist, and the rest of the musicians provide solid ground for Ya Ya Fornier’s dedicated, lounge singer styling. Fornier’s heartfelt, half-spoken, swingin’-hip vocals skate just above the parodic, leaving the whole endeavor sounding remarkably like the soundtrack to a small town.

Which, in an odd way, has its appeal. Tracks like the already mentioned “Live the Life” and the relatively adventurous “Chant de le Montagne” (which quotes passages from the Q’uran) raise images of dilapidated gas stations, long evenings, and nights spent in a lonely bar listening to the town’s only live singer. This said, Ya Ya Fornier will have to provide more dynamic singing, and a greater range of interpretation to accomplish more than this document of her friendships and personal love of jazz.

Track Listing

Bearcat; Voice Of The Saxophone; I Don

Personnel

Ya Ya Fornier

Album information

Title: Bearcat | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Random Chance Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About 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 make 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.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves 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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

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

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.