Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Marlene VerPlanck: Once There Was A Moon

308

Marlene VerPlanck: Once There Was A Moon

By

View read count
Marlene VerPlanck: Once There Was A Moon
Marlene VerPlanck is a singing canary of the old- fashioned sort—one who consistently picks great songs and then sings them in a brightly chirping soprano so that every single lyric is quite intelligible. The songs come out radiating an aura of a singer in love with what she's doing. Maybe that all ought to be commonplace in music, but it isn't. On Once There Was A Moon she continues to demonstrate what a reliable custodian she is of the American Songbook.

Although some of the songs here are well-known, VerPlanck has a way of going her own fresh way with them. For instance, Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing For You" (and the simplicity of Berlin's song fits hand-in-glove with her style) gets a racing-breathlessly-down-the-street-in-love-hooray delivery. By contrast, Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" finds her in an after-hours meditation, the mood somehow both insouciant and cheerfully obsessed.

Happily, along with those gems there are more than a few old treasures to (re)discover. Among them is Segal/Wells' slyly seductive "What Are You Afraid Of?" When she invitingly warbles "Take your shoes off, baby," surely only a fool would delay. Resonant and haunting, Benny Carter's romantic "Evening Star" offers an irrefutable reminder of what a fine songwriter that great musician also was. Another gem is Bob Haymes/Marty Clarke's "They Say It's Spring." A breathless consideration of love in bloom, it's irresistible and, as throughout, Tedd Firth's piano accompaniment is the keyboard Baccarat for serving up VerPlanck's dry martini vocalizing.

Track Listing

I'm In Love Again; Where Do You Go From Love; The Best Thing For You; Around About Half Past Nine; It Might As Well Be Spring; I've Got You Under My Skin; What Are You Afraid Of?; Evening Star; They Say It's Spring; Better Luck Next Time; You're Laughing At Me; Everything I Love; Dearly Beloved; Once There Was A Moon.

Personnel

Marlene Ver Planck: vocals; Tedd Firth: piano; Rich DeRosa: drums; Steve LaSpina: bass.

Album information

Title: Once There Was A Moon | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Audiophile 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.

Near

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.