(Vocal jazz) Rita Edmond - Sketches Of A Dream - 2008, MP3, 320 kbps

Born in Ohio, Rita remembers that she grew up around music, with her close relatives particularly loving such singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson. When she was only five, Rita sang lead in the junior choir at her church. Her talent was obvious even then. At 15 she began taking lessons from the highly respected vocal teacher Evangeline Stewart. Rita, with her beautiful voice and a four-octave range, was a natural singer, one who could express the deepest emotions through music.
After high school, Rita sang in a variety of settings in such locations as Las Vegas, Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Italy and Paris. But her other talents dominated for a few years. Rita recorded r&b and pop demos in Los Angeles for Motown, BET, MCA, EMI Publishing and Warner-Chappell. Behind the scene, Rita wrote and recorded music for various artists, shows and specials as well as ran her own music label. While she had commercial successes working on other artist's projects, it kept her away from singing the music she loved.

It’s not often that a debut vocal album suggests the near-certitude of future greatness, but Rita Edmond’s Sketches of a Dream, for which she also shaped all the arrangements and served as her own producer, is of that rare ilk. Backed by a four-octave range and years of gospel-ignited seasoning across North America and Europe, Edmonds recalls two of the all-time greats, reflecting the vocal power and majesty of Sarah Vaughan, the impeccable timing and phrasing of Carmen McRae, and the intense, natural musicality of both. Put in more contemporary terms, she should, in time, become the equal of Dianne Reeves. Not that this collection of 16 standards is entirely flawless. Her percolated treatment of “All the Way” feels inappropriate (or perhaps it’s simply that, given Sinatra’s definitive version, it’s impossible to appreciate it any way other than his), and her “Almost Like Being in Love” comes across a little too urgent and shrill. But such are minor quibbles. The 14 remaining tracks are ideally realized and exquisitely crafted, particularly an unexpected but effective reading of “My Romance” considerably bouncier and more ebullient than most.

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