Melinda Rose & Frenchy Romero: I'm On My Way

A co-led date from vocalist Melinda Rose and pianist Frenchy Romero seemed to be preordained. The two grew up mere blocks away from each other in Miami, connected as teens and bonded immediately over a love for jazz, and developed a strong rapport at a weekly jam session. As their lives moved forward, they stayed in touch and played out during breaks in their undergraduate days, kept the gigging going when they were each in graduate school in Illinois, and headed home to teach, perform and regroup during the pandemic.

Some two years after returning to Florida, Rose landed a gig as the vocalist in the U.S. Army Blues—the premier jazz ensemble in that military branch—and she encouraged Romero to audition for a military band, which proved successful and now puts both artists within playing reach of each other in Washington D.C. Destiny has clearly determined that this partnership is built to last, and strong chemistry is on display in the designs these two produce. I'm On My Way is ironclad proof of that fact.

Formats vary across the album—duo, trio with the addition of bassist Vincent Dupont, quartet bringing in drummer extraordinaire Matt Wilson, quintet including breakout trumpet star Summer Camargo—but quality remains consistent throughout. Opening with a duo-centric song verse setup for the Gershwins' "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off," Rose and Romero immediately establish themselves before inviting the rhythm section to join in for a witty, swinging soirée complete with a sly piano solo and centering bass stand. Three more classics follow in immediate succession—a Latin-leaning look at Michel Legrand and Johnny Mercer's "Once Upon a Summertime" sung in Spanish (as a nod to both leaders' heritage), a free-flowing duo take on Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" and a bounding run through Jimmy Van Heusen's "It Could Happen To You" for two.

Rose and Romero look deeper into the well of tunes from genius songsmiths further on in the program, adding Rodgers and Hammerstein's infrequently performed "In My Own Little Corner," benefitting from Wilson's spicy underpinnings and Camargo's equally savory horn work, and Irving Berlin's "You Can Have Him," an emotionally broad standout. But the remainder of the album largely focuses on Rose's writing. Her "Don't Come Back," giving clear direction to a former lover, is a homerun, with Dupont's bass offering a sly spine, Camargo heating things up with mute in hand, and a dalliance or two with double time adding the element of surprise. "I'd Do It All Again," delivered in trio intimacy, acknowledges bumps in the road in a relationship and accepts their necessary existence. The title track, with Rose working atop Wilson's literal hand-y work at the outset, is light and bright, with a delightful Dupont solo. And closer "It's Not You, It's Me" is an up-tempo winner letting someone down in lyric while raising the leaders skyward in artistry. Melinda Rose and Frenchy Romero are a match made in heaven. They may have already been aware of that, but now we're hip to it, too.

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