Search - Vanessa Rubin :: Vanessa Rubin Sings

Good Jazz Vocalist With A Broad Repertoire

Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 05/28/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not a great or essential cd but Vanessa Rubin has an excellent voice which lends itself to jazz. Only eight of the selections that I recognized but she does a nice job on everything.One that surprised me was "All For One" which is apparently the vocal version of Wayne Shorter's "Speak No Evil". "Morning" is one I associate with the late Cal Tjader. Steve Turre plays conch shells on this one .....and it works. He also makes three other appearances on trombone. Toots Thielemans appears on "Once Upon A Summertime" and "Close Enough For Love". One of my favorite cuts is "Black Coffee". I read a review elsewhere by a professional critic that said the best versions of this have already been recorded so many times and it is dated material so "why do it again?". I disagree since it's one I still like to hear and the bass entrance and Steve Turre's growling trombone solo along with her aside comments about the relationship with her man make it a very entertaining version.Bottom line, I think it has some very good listening to offer as some variety in one's collection."