Claire Daly: VuVu for Frances

Claire Daly, whose gruff yet eloquent baritone sax has brightened the New York scene for almost four decades, reunites with acclaimed tenor saxophonist George Garzone on Daly's seventh album as leader, VuVu for Frances, whose honoree is Frances Ballantyne, described by Daly as "a profound influence on [her] life" and "a consummate New Yorker." Daly and Garzone last recorded together in 1999, on Garzione's Moodiology (NYC), and Father Time hasn't caused either of them to lose so much as a step in the ensuing twenty-four years.

In deference to Ballantyne, Daly and Garzone have chosen half a dozen standards from the Great American Songbook, interlacing them amidst jazz themes by Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis and Steve Kuhn and affixing a trio of touchstones by Duke Ellington ("Mood Indigo" and a medley of "Warm Valley" and "What Am I Here For?"). Besides playing superb baritone, Daly sings (quite well, actually) on Kuhn's "Hold Out Your Hand" and has the spotlight to herself on Ray Noble's radiant ballad, "The Very Thought of You," as does pianist Jon Davis—for the first two minutes, that is—on the even-flowing finale, Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan."

Daly and Garzone raise the curtain with the Frank Sinatra staple, Sammy Cahn and Jimmy van Heusen's "All the Way," before harnessing Lloyd's prancing original, "Sweet Georgia Bright" (a.k.a. "Brown"). Johnny Mercer's plaintive "Fools Rush In" is next, followed by a spirited reading of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "People Will Say We're in Love" from Oklahoma! Daly and Garzone engage in some unseemly screeching and howling on a second Rodgers and Hammerstein theme, "The Lonely Goatherd" (from The Sound of Music). Purists may wish to skip that number and move forward to Ellington's "Mood Indigo."

The Ellington triad precedes "Hold Out Your Hand," Davis' lively and alluring "Half Nelson" and Earle Hagen's soulful "Harlem Nocturne." Another of Kuhn's delightful themes, "The Saga of Harrison Crabfeathers," is sandwiched between "The Very Thought of You" and "Manhattan." Although it is hard to outmaneuver Daly or Garzone when it comes to resourceful adlibbing, Davis delivers a number of commendable solos, as do bassist Dave Hofstra and drummer David F. Gibson, who also keep the rhythm sharp and vigorous.

While the definition of VuVu remains nebulous, what is entirely clear is that Daly and Garzone comprise an admirable team who should do this more often. Their VuVu for Frances is an album that should enliven and please almost any earnest partisan of contemporary jazz.

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