Multiple-Grammy winner and jazz vocalist Diane Schuur has a
\nsmooth, supple voice that’s a joy to listen to. So you gotta figure
\nthat if she’s having fun singing, it’s going to be a pretty special
\nwork. You’d be absolutely right, O Ye DV Faithful, and
\nMidnight<\/i> is the time to hear some pretty fine jazz.<\/p>\n
Schuur has been called ‘our generation’s Ella Fitzgerald’, and
\nher rich full tone can wrap itself around a song and make it hers.
\nOn
\nMidnight<\/i>, she teams up with longtime friend Barry Manilow as
\nproducer — and before you run screaming, do bear in mind that
\nManilow’s jazz and swing work, his
\n2 A.M Paradise Cafe<\/i> stuff, is astonishingly good (I confess,
\nI even like some of his other stuff). His touch as producer is
\nlight, but full, allowing the song choice and Schuur’s astonishing
\nthree-and-a-half octave range to take center stage. The
\ninstrumentation is excellent, supportive without being intrusive;
\nspecial kudos have to go to percussionist Peter Erskine, who
\nmanages to lay down some perfect beats without ruining the
\nessential smoothness of the recording.<\/p>\n
\nMidnight<\/i> is an interesting collection of songs. Schuur
\nbounces around between cover versions — a truly breathtaking
\nversion of Johnny Mercer’s “When October Goes”, also recorded by
\nManilow on his
\nParadise Caf\u00e9<\/i> CD — and originals, like the
\nsamba-laced “What Is Love?”, with its clever and precise lyrics.
\nThe Brazilian notes continue on the elegant and lovely “Our Love
\nWill Always Be There”. Other tracks of note include the CD’s
\nopener, “Meet Me, Midnight”; the wistful and smoky “Consider The
\nPoint From Both Ends”; the heartbreaking “Goodbye My Love”; and the
\nfinal joyful duet with Manilow, “Anytime”. The real jewel, though,
\nis Schuur’s duet with labelmate Karrin Allyson, the Bruce Sussman
\nstandard “Stay Away From Bill”. Great stuff, simply great.<\/p>\n
\nMidnight<\/i> is one of the best jazz standards CDs I’ve heard in
\na very long time, and is a strong candidate for this year’s Top Ten
\nlist. As Schuur herself puts it, ‘Some rise at sunrise and think
\nit’s a wow \/\/ That’s really nice if you’re milking a
\ncow”\u2026but
\nMidnight<\/i> is really where it’s at.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6952],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37802","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-diane-schuur","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37802"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}