Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jane Stuart: Beginning to See The Light

154

Jane Stuart: Beginning to See The Light

Jane Stuart: Beginning to See The Light
Jazz vocalist Jane Stuart's debut, Beginning to See the Light, could be a big success for unexpected reasons. The thirteen tracks are presented in a bright manner by a singer who knows how to swing them properly. This album could potentially attract a non-jazz audience: about half of the material consists of fairly well-known standards from the Great American Songbook like the title tune by Ellington and Strayhorn, Mercer/Arlen's "Out of this World," Rodgers/Hammerstein's "Getting to Know You," and the Coots/Lewis classic "For All We Know."

Stuart delivers the tunes in a strong manner, but in a way this recording is reminiscent of Norah Jones' debut album, which appealed to a wide cross-section of the vox populi. There is no scatting, just a sure-footed presentation of the songs in a pop/jazz setting. Stuart is accompanied by a fine ensemble that includes her co-producer/arranger/keyboardist, Rave Tesar, plus guitar, horns, bass, drums and percussion.

Stuart shows her jazz chops on the Jon Hendricks lyrics to Miles Davis' "Four," in which she recreates the tongue-twisting lyrics as well as the solo impressions written and sung by Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross. Likewise, she approaches one of the most important and popular works in the Hendricks oeurve, Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," during which the group's horns are used to good effect. Finally, the Harry "Sweets" Edison composition "Centerpiece," again with Hendricks' lyrics, features solid jazz singing.

Stuart also has the presence to resurrect a few reasonably obscure titles, such as the Newman/Gordon ballad "Through A Long And Sleepless Night," which at one time was an effective ballad presented by John Coltrane during his Prestige period.

Track Listing

I'm Beginning to See The Light; Out Of This World; Four; For All We Know; Getting To Know You; Visions; Moanin'; Through A Long And Sleepless Night; Studio Talk; I Thought About You; It Might As Well Be Spring; Angel Eyes; Centerpiece.

Personnel

Jane Stuart
vocals

Jane Stuart: vocals; Rave Tesar: keyboards; Kermit Driscoll or Sue Williams: bass; Rick De Kovessey: drums; Frank Valdez: percussion; Len Argese: guitar; Vinnie Cutro: trumpet; Frank Elmo: tenor sax; Dan Nigro: Baritone sax; Conrad Zulauf: trombone.

Album information

Title: Beginning to See The Light | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Self Produced

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.