There are many albums released each year by small and not so small labels featuring a talented female vocalist covering songbook standards. The promotors sending us such albums are likely perplexed that The Syncopated Times rarely reviews them. The element missing from those throwaway vanity records is HEAT. The heat generated by a jazz rhythm, the intensity produced by a band steeped in the modern traditional jazz scene that sets out to make a jazz record for the ages. More simply put, if a vocal album doesn't have my foot tapping a hole in the floor I don't bring it to the attention of TST readers.
Not only did Molly Ryan's Sweepin' The Blues Away have me toe tapping, before long it had me beating out rhythms on the table. That isn't to say it is an album for jitterbugs, the highlights are vocal gems directed squarely at self reflective adults including The Folks Who Live on the Hill , A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and A Cottage for Sale. But the band is so engaging even on these that the album would still be noteworthy without the vocal track.
Dan Levinson (tenor sax/clarinet), Rossano Sportiello (piano), Rob Adkins (bass) & Kevin Dorn (drums) make up a small band that sounds so much bigger. "I Wonder Who's Kissing Him Now" is an excellent example of their ability to sneak up on the listener, slowly building to a climactic heat. Sportiello's piano is prominent th
