Bianca Pittoors: Bianca 8

Winnipeg, Canada-born, Ottawa, Canada-based Bianca Pittoors is a French-Canadian from a musical family who specializes in jazz standards and what she calls "retro jazz. On her new, self-produced disc Bianca 8, she is backed by a capable piano quintet that includes a percussionist. While the lion's share of the recording is Latin tinged, the disc is almost exclusively Francophone. Don't let that scare you, though. The listener will readily enjoy the recording as Italian non-speakers enjoy La Bohème and La Traviata.

The language issue does offer additional food for thought regarding how to listen to the disc. It is no issue for Francophones, they already understand the content. For the rest of us listeners, we may wish to approach these pieces from a vocalese, scat, or voice as instrument point of view. Any listener familiar with the vocal jazz repertoire will recognize "Vous M'éblouissez as "You Go to My Head. Likewise, "Danse Avant De Tomber is "Save the Last Dance for Me. "Besame Mucho is a most multi-cultural of songs, originally in Spanish, sung in French, and very well I might add.

Bianca 8 offers the pedestrian jazz listener the opportunity to hear how the American art of jazz may be beautifully transformed by other cultural interests. Three things that solely belong to America are the Constitution, Baseball, and Jazz. The latter two, at the very least, may be seen as our most important cultural gifts to the globe. Bianca Pittoors embraces this gift and runs with it.