Tracye Eileen: You Hit the Spot

You Hit the Spot is either the third or fourth album by sultry-voiced, Chicago-based vocalist Tracye Eileen. It was recorded in two sessions: one with a trio (and audience), the other with a sextet. She gets a good head start thanks to a splendid choice of material— eight blue-chip tunes, all from the Great American Songbook.

Eileen fares reasonably well with each of them, spreading a bluesy blanket over what are essentially straight-ahead renditions. She has excellent range, and is suitably emotive when required. The diction is fine save on the fast-paced opener, "I Love Being Here with You," wherein a number of words and phrases are less than clear. Elsewhere, no problems. Eileen does make at least one lyric misstep, on Lerner and Loewe's "Almost Like Being in Love," when she sings (twice), "all the music of love seems to be" instead of "all the music of life seems to be," as written, but that's a minor quibble.

"You Hit the Spot" follows "Being Here" and precedes half a dozen winners including "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "Almost Like Being in Love," "The Very Thought of You," "Just in Time" (including a rarely heard verse), "This Can't Be Love" and "The End of a Love Affair" (the only theme aside from the first two sung without an audience). Eileen numbers Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington among her role models, but has a style of her own that doesn't mirror any of them.

Eileen's back-up groups are impressive, giving her solid support on every number. While solos are few, there are brief yet effective statements by trumpeter Victor Garcia ("You Hit the Spot"), bassist Paul Martin ("This Can't Be Love"), tenor Steve Eisen ("The End of a Love Affair") and pianists Jeremy Kahn and Dennis Luxion. Even though the music is respectable from start to finish, it must be noted that the album's playing time is a concise thirty minutes. If that doesn't bother you—and you appreciate well-written and well-performed songs—Eileen and her first-rate groups may "hit the spot."