Rosanne Agasee: Home At Last

If there is one thing that the record proves, it is that Agasee is a pop stylist. She starts out low-key. Her singing tends to be awash in pathos on "Home at Last, which has some telling playing from Doug Riley on the Hammond B3 and loquacious guitar from Jake Langley. Interpreting Steely Dan is no mean task. Agasee also has Sting in the works, with whom she tries a jazz twist. The song just doesn't lend itself to the interpretation, and while Agasee makes the effort, the final bell does not signal a triumph.

Agasee's limitations as a jazz singer are visible on the jazz tunes. She cannot muster the depth or the inflection to get into the meat of the lyrics and make them stand up and vibrate. "Summertime ticks along at a quick pace, but all it turns out to be is a nice pop ditty. This also holds for "Blue Skies, a pop adventure that is marked by some incisive guitar from Langley and a whomping sax solo from Chris Mitchell. Singing songs is one thing, singing jazz another.

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