Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » China Moses & Raphael Lemonnier: This One's For Dinah

443

China Moses & Raphael Lemonnier: This One's For Dinah

By

Sign in to view read count
China Moses & Raphael Lemonnier: This One's For Dinah
Once upon a time, the Queen of the Blues was visited in her dressing room backstage by a woman and her baby daughter. The Queen of the Blues picked up the baby, looked at her and said, "She's gonna be a singer. She's definitely gonna be a singer." The prediction came true. The Queen was Dinah Washington; the baby, Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Many years passed. Bridgewater married film director Otis Moses and had a daughter of her own, who Moses insisted be named China. When her mother was away touring, China was looked after by her grandmother. One day she flicked through her gran's record collection, found a record and put it on. It was by Dinah Washington. Her grandmother was horrified, thinking the music far too suggestive for such young and tender ears, and took the record off.

That did it. Young China saw Dinah Washington as forbidden fruit and whenever her grandmother wasn't around, she would play her records.

More years passed. Dee Dee Bridgewater took her daughter to live with her in Paris, France. Here China has returned to the forbidden fruit of her childhood. Accompanied by a big band led by pianist Raphael Lemonnier, she's cut an album paying tribute to Washington.

Things get off to a great start with the 12-bar blues "Fine Fine Daddy" and Moses' own "Dinah's Blues." She also does an excellent job on Noel Coward's "Mad About the Boy," which in 1992—29 years after Washington's death—made the charts after being used to advertise jeans on television.

"Lover Come Back to Me" is a swinging affair, with some solid trumpet work from Francois Biensan followed by some nice scatting by saxophonist Daniel Huck. Then Moses handles Louis Jordan's "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" with aplomb and there are good, workmanlike solos by Fabien Marcoz (bass) and Lemonnier.

She's less sure of herself though on the slow ballad "Blue Gardenia." And "Teach Me Tonight" is quite frankly a mess. Her flippant, meandering and at times downright strident vocal eradicates any meaning the old song might still have in the modern age. She's still got a lot to learn from her mother. The mawkishly melodramatic "Goodbye" is little better, with Moses coming on like Screaming Jay Hawkins toward close of play.

She's far more self-assured on "Cry Me A River" and the two up-tempo blues—"Fat Daddy" and "Evil Gal Blues." Her version of Washington's greatest hit, the ballad "What A Diff'rence A Day Makes," is really quite remarkable. A bright new star has entered the jazz firmament.

The album easily makes up for its failings in the enthusiasm and good humor it conveys. It should have ended with "What A Diff'rence A Day Makes." Instead it closes with "Gardenias for Dinah," an embarrassing 50-second soliloquy by Lemonnier—very French, very solemn. Washington would surely have laughed her socks off.

Track Listing

Fine Fine Daddy; Dinah's Blues; Mad About The Boy; Lover Come Back To Me; Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?; Blue Gardenia; Teach Me Tonight; Cry Me A River; Fat Daddy; Goodbye; Evil Gal Blues; What A Diff'rence A Day Makes; Gardenias for Dinah.

Personnel

China Moses
vocals

China Moses: vocals; Raphael Lemonnier: piano; Fabien Marcoz: bass; Jean-Pierre Derouard: drums; Daniel Huck: alto saxophone; Francois Biensan: trumpet; Jean-Claude Onesta: trombone; Aurelie Tropez: alto saxophone and clarinet; Frederic Couderc: tenor and baritone saxophone; Raphael Dever: bass; Henri Le Ny: additional vocals.

Album information

Title: This One's For Dinah | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of 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 create 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.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve 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

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.