Joel Siegel
Joel’s Contributions
October 2000 Albums
From This Moment On
Kathy Jenkins with the Nick Levinovsky Big Band
Arranger-pianist Nick Levinovsky has written lively charts for this 14-track collection, especially the eight big band sides played with precision and spirit by a brassy 16-piece ensemble. But vocalist Kathy Jenkins, Levinovsky's wife, sounds ill at ease...
October 2000 Albums
Le Grande Freddy
Freddy Cole
Ineluctably overshadowed by the incomparable vocal and instrumental talents of his older brother Nat, Freddy Cole has spent his long career torn between reviving Nat's repertoire and attempting to assert his own individuality. No fraternal ghosts haunt this...
October 2000 Hearsay
Rene Marie
Had it not been for her son’s prodding, singer-songwriter René Marie’s musical career might have ended when she was 18. In high school, she sang with a neighborhood R&B band in Roanoke, Virginia, and performed solo at a cafeteria that had a grand piano in...
September 2000 Albums
Voice With Heart
Terrie Richards Alden
Terrie Richards Alden disproves the conventional wisdom that one should shun the singing spouses of instrumentalists. On her debut CD, guitarist Howard Alden's wife unveils a fresh, youthful sound, sure intonation, relaxed time and the ability to perform...
September 2000 Albums
Autumn Leaves: The Songs of Johnny Mercer
Jacintha
Singapore-born-and-raised Jacintha follows her recent collection of Ben Webster-associated ballads with another tribute, this time to lyricist Mercer. Favoring the time-stands-still tempos of Shirley Horn and echoing the honeyed tenderness of the late Brazilian...
September 2000 Albums
A New Standard
Steve Tyrell
Veteran producer and songwriter Steve Tyrell's collection of 17 standards-three of which were included on the soundtracks of the '90s Father of the Bride remakes-is clearly designed as a blue-chip item, featuring a string orchestra, guest appearances by...
September 2000 Albums
Embrace
Elizabeth Kontomanou
Born in the south of France to a Greek mother and an African father, and now based in New York, singer and composer Elizabeth Kontomanou creates music as international as her roots. Embrace blends elements of post-bop jazz, African rhythms, New Age and contemporary...
September 2000 Albums
Too Much Coffee Man
Bob Dorough
Too Much Coffee Man confirms singer, pianist, songwriter and arranger Bob Dorough's long-overdue ascension from cult artist to national treasure. His second Blue Note release offers him a broader musical canvas than his customary small group formats, including...
June 2000 Albums
Unsung Heroes
Tierney Sutton
Last year's Introducing Tierney Sutton marked the arrival of a rare jazz vocal talent. Few singers are blessed with an instrument as lovely, crystalline and flexible as Sutton's voice, and ever fewer possess the musicianship to make such intelligent, inspired...
June 2000 Albums
Live in Chicago
Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling is over-blessed with talent-strong chops, great ears, solid time. He honors the past by resurrecting vintage ballads and bebop classics, embraces contemporary pop and jazz material, and explores new directions in his own compositions. There's...
May 2000 Albums
Live at Yoshi's
Dee Dee Bridgewater
As anyone who has witnessed her will attest, Dee Dee Bridgewater is a spellbinding live performer. Having distinguished herself in jazz, musical theater and FM disco-funk, she's become a one-woman talent conglomerate-singer, actress, dancer and mimic. Live...
May 2000 Albums
I Feel Like Some Jazz Today
Eve Cornelius and the Chip Crawford Trio
Husband-and-wife team pianist-arranger Chip Crawford and singer Eve Cornelious are highly schooled artists who feel compelled to demonstrate their hip erudition in every bar of their music. The result is not unimpressive but exhausting to assimilate. Their...
May 2000 Albums
Walking Woman
Mary LaRose/Ledhead
Has there ever been a vocal recording of any kind featuring a repertoire as diverse as compositions by Henry Purcell, Fletcher Henderson, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Led Zeppelin and Anthony Braxton? Singer-arranger-lyricist Mary LaRose deserves kudos...
May 2000 Albums
This One's From the Heart
James Darren
Hollywood actor-director-singer James Darren's collection of standards spins off from his stint playing holographic Vegas crooner Vic Fontaine on the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Darren's tentative, toneless entrance on the opening phrase of "The...
May 2000 Albums
When September Comes
Lisa Michel
Evenly split between standards and originals, When September Comes showcases Lisa Michel's songwriting and performing talents. Her compositions are musically and emotionally challenging, outfitting jagged melodies with insightful lyrics capturing the anxieties...
May 2000 Albums
Simple Pleasures
Phil Kidder
Either this CD is a joke, as implied by the vocalist's last name, or a misbegotten vanity production. Singing with the spare accompaniment of only two guitars nakedly exposes a performer's strengths and weaknesses. Few if any of the former are noticeable...
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