(Vocal Jazz) Dena Taylor - The Nearness Of You - 2014, MP3, 320

Ask jazz vocalist, Dena Taylor, about turning 62 in October and the relevancy of her music in an age of youth and she'll first respond with one of the brightest smiles you could imagine then she'll shake her head and will, most likely, respond that she hadn't counted on making it to 62 no less still making music. A jovial spirit with a contagious robust laugh is what you will find if you're fortunate enough to spend any time with her.
Taylor spent twelve years abroad in the military, combining her years of service with a series of low-profile concert and event gigs. She also accepted invitations to sing with touring USO shows whenever it was compatible with her military schedule.
Taylor's road to success has been hard-won, even inspirational. Upon leaving the military, Taylor found herself in a violent car accident that left her with a severe brain injury requiring a full two years to regain her ability to speak and walk again. And, since that time, she has also waged her own personal battle against breast cancer.
Having relocated to Florida, she returned to the stage as one of the gold-star cast members of the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse. From there, she went on to establishing herself as a solid solo performer. Her pairings with some of the regions finest musicians resulted in her award winning CD, Round Midnight, made with Ron Teixeira, Ron Pirtle and Dave Dunscombe.
Besides her own bands, Dena & Company (with notables Ron Teixeira, Dave Dunscombe and John Fitzgerald) and Troika (with gifted Hammond B-3 artist, Kenny Clarke, and drummer Dave Dunscome), her reputation also made her a frequent guest vocalist of visiting national jazz and blues groups.
Taylor was named one of the Top Five Vocalists in the SingersUniverse "Best Vocalist Of The Month" Competition just prior to relocating to Austin, Texas in January of 2009.
Now based in Austin Texas, she went to work on her second award winning CD, Certitude, which was released in March of 2010 and includes notables Grammy winner Redd Volkaert and Ernie Durawa. One of the tracks from this effort, Song for My Father, was rewarded with an IAIRA Certification of "International Top 100 Hit" shortly after its release.
In addition to the donations that Taylor makes from all of her CDs to the charities of her choice, she also recorded and released several minis in 2013 specifically to support charities: Hymns for Hunger, a collection of 3 hymn standards with Grammy winning guitarist Redd Volkaert & Hello in There (the devastating John Prine song about the loneliness of the elderly) featuring Austin’s Jon Emery. Both of these minis benefit Feeding America's Give a Meal ($1 = 9 meals); It's Christmas, a collection of Christmas songs with notable guests Grammy winning guitarist Redd Volkaert and David Chao, pianist of the Central Time Jazz Collective. These tracks benefit The Dog and Cat Cancer Fund. Taylor lost her service dog, Sonny, to cancer several years back so this is a very personal cause; on 11/15/13.
As for the new standards CD, The Nearness of You, to be released February 14, 2014. When asked about it, that grin breaks across her face and she can barely contain her enthusiasm! Guest artists include Grammy winner Redd Volkaert, Rick McRae, Ernie Durawa, David Chao and others.
Taylor lends her personal support to a number of causes that support others who have endured adversity or are in the midst of their challenges and it is a testament to Taylor's talent, however, that her sound never seems "preachy." Rather, the adversity Taylor has faced personally lends her voice a hard, knowing edge - like that of a Gladys Knight at her prime - that gives her music a ripened maturity so many pop stars lack.

Dena Taylor explores the varying levels of personal intimacy through both her song selection and masterful delivery of these Jazz Standards on The Nearness of You. From the first bars of “When October Goes,” the piano gently leads the listener into Taylor’s first silky vibrato, and from that point on there is no choice but to give in to her melodic journey. Taylor’s singing on this track evokes a sense of nostalgia and seclusion, as if one is sitting in a smoke-filled Jazz nightclub watching the moments drift softly into the abyss and waiting for a lost love that is not going to show. She follows this with the more ironically up-beat “Solitude.” Echoing the timbres and style of the great Billie Holliday, she explores another glimpse towards nostalgia that arouses the sense of such a longing, and the sweet side of a bittersweet feeling. The juxtaposition of these two tracks right from the start demonstrates not only the strong range of her Jazz repertoire, but also a deeper understanding of the versatility of feeling that can be conveyed given similar subject matter.
A distinct shift in tone and sentiment comes with Taylor’s rendition of the sultry “Besame Mucho.” The listener, mentally transported to a charming Latin club somewhere on the Central American coast, feels the gentle swells in both her band’s accompaniment and her lyrical delivery. The feel is cool, mellifluously smooth, and triggers a wonderful sensation of something foreign, yet universal though music. This leads directly into the title track, “The Nearness of You.” Taylor has led the listener from nostalgia through longing, and lands us in the ephemeral and warm spirit of Ella Fitzgerald with this track. She leaves room for her accompanying musicians to tastefully explore and muse with the form, and then takes up the mantel herself, commenting melodically through her own expression of tenderness.
The shift in subject matter that occurs with “Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me” marks a turning point towards reflection in this journey. The very feelings of longing and solitude that drive one to find and explore passion also lead down roads of trepidation, and the remaining tracks convey that distance from the build to “nearness.” There is no clearer example of this than her choice to follow with “If I Love Again.” Taylor echoes the sentiment conveyed in the opening tracks, but with a new understanding and exploration of those feelings. Closing out with Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought of You” comments on the cycle of the journey The Nearness of You embarks upon from the outset. The distance between longing and love, nearness and solitude, tenderness and indifference, comes full circle when looked at through the wider lens of the album as a whole.
Musically, Taylor executes these Jazz standards with an ear towards the past, but an eye towards the sentiment. What’s most striking is how she blends a range of styles within the Jazz genre to explore exactly what “nearness” implies both semantically and emotionally. The longing for nearness, the distance from nearness, and the ambivalence of nearness are all metaphorically and harmonically commented upon in a subtle way that does not demand a trained ear to decipher, but does reward one.
Samuel Marvin, MA Humanities – University of Chicago

Grammy winner Redd Volkaert (Guitar), Rick McRae (Guitar), David Chao of The Central Time Jazz Collective