(vocal jazz) Deborah Latz - Fig Tree - 2013, MP3, 320 kbps

Critics have called New York-based jazz vocalist Deborah Latz “one of the finest balladeers” (Jazz Society Of Oregon), “undeniably unique” (jazzimprov.com), and (Downbeat) says,"Latz’s fine feel for French lends an Edith Piaf-like quick vibrato and brittle grace…" and (The New York City Jazz Record) “Her free vocal line is clear and perfectly centered.” Deborah is a performer par excellence. Her intimate, charming, and relaxed demeanor on stage always moves the hearts and souls of her audiences. Latz’s vocal expression has been compared with Tony Bennett, Carla White, Edith Piaf, Patty Waters and Mel Torme.
'FIG TREE' Latz' third album to be released May 7, 2013! Stellar pre-release praise from 2012 NEA Jazz Master SHEILA JORDAN, veteran jazz critic SCOTT YANOW, Motema Music President JANA HERZEN and LAURENCE DONOHUE-GREENE Managing Editor of The New York City Jazz Record.
Featuring Jon Davis, piano; John Hart, guitars; Ray Parker, bass; Willard Dyson, drums; and special guests Peter Apfelbaum, tenor & sop. sax, flutes, and percussion and Abdoulaye Diabate, voice on Latz' original “She Was.”
Deborah’s debut CD, ‘TOWARD LOVE’, earned immediate praise “Her voice rings with a fetching richness…. A marvelous vocal effort, beginning to end.” (AllAboutJazz.com) “...a sensibility that incites a lyric with her innate dramatic instincts... Strikes just the right note of coy mischievousness... “ (Cadence) Her 2008 sophomore release – ‘LIFELINE’ – featuring Joel Frahm, has received even wider critical acclaim from (Downbeat) “‘I Didn’t Know’ hits glory strides à lá Carla White”, (L.A. Jazz Scene) “When it comes to singing at very slow tempos, few are in Deborah Latz’s league... Lifeline is a gem...” And from (Midwest Record) “Latz knows how to deliver the songs with a different slant... jazz vocal fans have a new star to celebrate.”
In May 2011 Deborah was featured live on the Lynn Darroch show at KMHD radio in Portland, OR for her performance at WILFS with George Mitchell, Phil Baker, Ron Steen and John Keyser.
To view recent live performances of the Deborah Latz Group in NYC go to www.youtube.com/towardlove
Ms. Latz comes to jazz after an award-winning career in dramatic and musical theater, where she garnered a “Best Actress Award” at the Jerzy Grotowski Theatre Festival in Poland for her one-woman performance of ‘Juliet’, and received rave reviews in New York and Europe for ‘Travels With Ma Own Self’, the one-woman musical that she wrote, produced and performed. In San Francisco she studied at the American Conservatory Theater; concentrated on Shakespeare and the Classics at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England and in New York City she studied avant-garde theatre with Anne Bogart. Through her theater training and years of studying jazz greats and cutting-edge artists, combined with her love for the Great American Songbook, she continues to synthesize her jazz vocal approach and style.
In 2009 she was featured on the weekly radio show, Music of the World, KPFA radio in Berkeley, California which included a live interview for her sophomore release ‘Lifeline’, and in Pisa, Italy on www.puntoradio.fm on A Voice, A Soul. Jazz Magazine interviews include JazzReview.com and Hot House Jazz Guide.
In 2005 Deborah made her PARIS DEBUT at Sept Lézards with jazz piano luminary, Alain Jean-Marie. For her 2009 'Lifeline' European Tour she performed at such noted venues in Paris, France as Café Universel, Le Neuf Jazz Club, Atelier de la Main d’Or; and in Livorno, Italy at Jazz Club Il Paradosso.
UNITED STATES PERFORMANCES
NEW YORK CITY
The Kitano
Sweet Rhythm
Cornelia Street Café
55Bar
Tomi Jazz
Somethin' Jazz Club
Cachaça Jazz ‘n’ Samba Club
Enzo's
Louis 649
Solomon's Porch
Detour

"Fig Tree opens with Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies", but not in the usual, merely jaunty interpretation. Acid jazz in feel, it foreshadows that this third solo outing from Deborah Latz is definitely not going to be business as usual. Possessed of a range as wide as her clear soprano is lovely, Latz' take on "Blue Skies" is a swift, danceable mix, which includes scatting and extended hums. Totally rocking in company with jazz veterans Jon Davis (piano), John Hart (acoustic and electric guitars), Ray Parker (bass) and Willard Dyson (drums), there is happy certainty to Latz' singing. Nowhere is that more evident than when she tears loose in homage to Alberta Hunter with "I'm Having A Good Time". Of course Latz' voice is totally different from the late blues great, but when it comes to blowing the roof of the joint, they are totally sisters in the life spirit. If Latz sways irresistibly with Brazilian gems like "E Luxo So" and "Corcovado" ("Quiet Nights"), she is no less adept with an American songbook classic like George and Ira Gershwin's "S'Wonderful". With each "marvelous" and "wonderful", her light touch as she pauses becomes a moment of self-discovery. Here Hart's guitar provides the most sympathetic of accompaniment. The title song of the set is one of a quartet of her originals, a whimsical delight, evoking happy comparison to the vocalese gems of yore from Lambert, Hendricks and Ross in its musical savvy. The closer is a Latz-Davis duo on Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer's familiar "Moon River". As lucid as it is breathtaking, it is music of the sort that happens when the best companions get together. That's how this Fig Tree is throughout." --Andrew Velez, New York City Jazz Record

Deborah Latz - Vocals
Jon Davis - Piano
John Hart - Guitar
Ray Parker - Double Bass
Willard Dyson - Drums

Оф.сайт : http://www.deborahlatz.com/