Joel Siegel
Joel’s Contributions
April 2001 Hearsay
Jim Ferguson
Shortly after the release of Jim Ferguson’s solo CD debut, Not Just Another Pretty Bass, the singer-bassist received a mysterious e-mail from a Boston neurosurgeon inquiring whether there were any left-handed persons in his family. Ferguson replied that...
December 2000 Albums
Sings Edith Piaf: The Golden Album
Raquel Bitton
Morocco-bred, San Francisco-based cabaret singer Raquel Bitton's fifth album features 16 songs drawn from the repertoire of the legendary French chanteuse, Edith Piaf. Backed by a 24-piece orchestra, Bitton performs a mixture of Piaf's signature pieces...
December 2000 Albums
Never Never Land
Jane Monheit
If as much attention had been paid to the content of Jane Monheit's debut CD as was lavished on its glamour-girl packaging, Never Never Land would have made a far stronger impact. In her senior year of voice study at the Manhattan School of Music, Monheit...
December 2000 Albums
Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire
Stacey Kent
A young American vocalist who has caused something of a stir in England, Stacey Kent faces stiffer competition in her homeland. She's going to have to come up with fresher album concepts than yet another Fred Astaire tribute. (Mel Torme saluted Astaire on...
December 2000 Albums
You and I
Mary Pearson
Singer, songwriter and arranger Mary Pearson has designed her debut CD as a collection of duets with pianists Fred Hersch, Lynne Arriale and David Lahm, bassist Harvie Swartz, guitarist John Hart and percussionist Steve Davis. These austere settings showcase...
December 2000 Albums
Lullaby in Rhythm
Sandi Shoemake
On her second solo outing, vocalist Sandi Shoemake has assimilated the Jackie Cain influence that overshadowed her otherwise impressive 1984 debut album. Recorded on January 31, 1999, at The Hamlet in Cambria, Calif.-Shoemake's home base for the past eight...
December 2000 Albums
Serenade in Blue
Ithamara Koorax
Reportedly a star in Brazil and Japan, vocalist Ithamara Koorax makes her American CD debut with this pop-jazz effort recorded several years ago in Rio and Piermont, N.Y. For this project-a mix of movie themes and sambas sung in English, Portuguese and French...
December 2000 Albums
The Madness of Our Love
Denise Jannah
The third Blue Note release by this competent but strangely uncompelling singer finds her performing standards and three of her own compositions backed by a piano trio headed by pianist-music director Bert van den Brink. Influenced by Sarah Vaughan and Betty...
December 2000 Albums
Look No Further
Diane Hubka
Like her debut CD, Diane Hubka's sophomore effort demonstrates how a promising singer can undermine her gift by striving for excessive hipness at the expense of other purposes. Hubka has a clear, pleasing voice that she applies nimbly, if sometimes tentatively...
December 2000 Albums
Poet in New York
Georgie Fame
It's difficult to explain why English singer-songwriter-keyboardist-arranger Georgie Fame isn't regarded as a topflight male jazz vocalist: he's easily the peer of Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling. This lavishly gifted musician's two excellent 1999 Go Jazz CDs...
December 2000 Albums
Dark Divas: Highlights
Ranee Lee
Brooklyn-born, Montreal-based Ranee Lee retains traditional virtues that most contemporary, jazz-oriented singers have abandoned: professionalism, humor, discipline, unpretentiousness. No doubt these old-school qualities serve her well in her one-woman stage...
October 2000 Albums
In the Moment: Live in Concert
Dianne Reeves
Until the release of this vibrant live album, Dianne Reeves' recordings have failed to capture the beauty and energy of her club and concert performances. Has she been intimidated by the clinical, this-is-forever ambience of the recording studio, or is she...
October 2000 Albums
Some Time Ago
Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy is arguably the most influential jazz singer of his generation, not only as an artistic inspiration for younger performers but as a teacher, cheerleader and guest artist on the recordings of emerging vocalists. In many ways, he's an excellent...
October 2000 Albums
Dim the Lights
Mark Murphy featuring Benny Green
Asking a voice-and-piano duo to sustain interest for nearly 70 minutes is a daunting request that Murphy and pianist Benny Green do their best to fulfill. But Murphy's chops, nakedly exposed in this setting, sound strained and grainy, and Green's virtuosic...
October 2000 Albums
Pussy Cat Dues: The Music of Charles Mingus
Kevin Mahogany
Kevin Mahogany's fans are likely to feel scammed by this CD. Judging by the cover portrait of the singer and his top billing, one would assume that Mahogany was the album's feature attraction. In fact, Pussy Cat Dues is a concert presentation of Charles...
October 2000 Albums
Wind From the South
Claudia Acuna
Russ Musto's notes for Chile-bred vocalist Claudia Acuna's Wind from the South suggest that "she may well be acknowledged as the first great jazz singer of the 21st century." I wouldn't bet on that, but concede that Acuna's first solo outing is more adventurous...
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