[Dixielandjazz] Lean, Smoky Jazz of the 1950's

[Steve barbone]

Looks as if Ms. Reeves lean, smoky jazz of the 1950's is surprisingly
popular. 40,000 albums for "jazz" CD sales in 5 months is quite high.
Anybody seen the film? Note also the reviewer says this music resonates with
"an especially broad audience". Yes indeed, the people want tuneful music.

Cheers,
Steve

For a Period Film, a Serving of Lean, Smoky Jazz

NY TIMES - NATE CHINEN - February 7, 2006

It should come as news to no one that the front-runner for best jazz vocal
album in this year's Grammy Awards is an intimate standards session that
evokes the sound of the 1950's. Isn't that often the case? What's
interesting about the current favorite is that it comes with a period
picture attached, the George Clooney film "Good Night, and Good Luck." The
soundtrack is the latest effort from Dianne Reeves, a singer who has been
unbeatable in recent awards seasons.

"Good Night, and Good Luck," about Edward R. Murrow's broadcast battle with
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, takes place almost entirely at CBS television
headquarters in 1953 and 1954. The powerful but mellow alto of Ms. Reeves
wafts through the film, as ubiquitous and atmospheric as the smoke from
Murrow's cigarettes. Ms. Reeves appears on-screen as a CBS contract singer;
in the spirit of cinéma vérité, she and her band recorded much of the
soundtrack in character, while cameras rolled. The result, oddly enough, is
the leanest, most instantly gratifying album of her career.

"I had to say, 'O.K., this is what I have to work with,' " Ms. Reeves said
in a recent phone interview. "How do I make this the best it can possibly
be? It makes you go inward and find the subtleties." She was referring not
only to the logistics of the film, but also to the singing style of the
period, which required restraint. "I have a big voice," she said. "I could
have had more complex music and been happy. When I perform that music
onstage, it takes on a different character."

Ms. Reeves, who turns 50 this year, has blazed a stubbornly circuitous trail
through the jazz mainstream. Her recording career, spanning a dozen Blue
Note releases since 1987, has included detours into R&B, fusion and world
music. "People would say, 'It's too pop for jazz, too jazzy for pop,' " she
said. "So I've always been in a kind of middle place, but that was the music
that made me feel connected."

Ms. Reeves won her first Grammy in 2000 for "In the Moment," a live
recording that captures the breadth of her eclecticism, complete with
semiautobiographical exhortations and Southern Hemisphere grooves. She won
again in 2001 for "The Calling," an elaborate tribute with strings to Sarah
Vaughan, her most significant vocal influence. Her third award was in 2003
for "A Little Moonlight," an exquisitely focused standards album and her
finest recorded work. It was the first time a singer had won a Grammy for
three consecutive releases, in any genre.

The "Good Night, and Good Luck" soundtrack, on Concord Records, could be
seen as a logical next step for Ms. Reeves: it's even sparser than "A Little
Moonlight," with a similar emphasis on standard fare. The soundtrack's
simple clarity has resonated with an especially broad audience, as Ms.
Reeves noticed on her most recent tour. (A straight standards repertory,
paradoxically, has become the ultimate crossover tool for contemporary jazz
singers.) Since its late September release, the album has sold roughly
40,000 copies; that's barely a blip by pop standards, but solid for jazz and
almost as many as "A Little Moonlight" or "The Calling" to date.

But Ms. Reeves describes the soundtrack as a discrete project, not a hint of
things to come. She has plans to record her next Blue Note album this
summer, after a six-week European tour. (Look for it among the nominees at
the 2008 Grammy Awards.)

Assessing this year's race, Ms. Reeves places emphasis on the quality of her
competition, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Luciana Souza, Nnenna Freelon and Tierney
Sutton. "I would love to win," Ms. Reeves said, "I'm not going to lie about
that, but I'm really excited about the category that I'm in. They're all
great singers. I have their records, I've seen them, I know most of them."

Whoever takes home the award tomorrow night, Ms. Reeves will have reasons
for celebrating. "The music and all of the things in the universe are
clicking," she said. "I always felt confident, but not like this. I don't
even know how to describe it. I just feel very easy and able and ‹ I don't
know ‹ mature."