(Vocal Jazz) Stephanie Nakasian - Billie Remembered: The Classic Songs Of Billie Holiday - 2009, MP3, 320 kbps

#777b. Patricia Stephanie Nakasian, 29 August 1954, Washington, DC, USA. Nakasian’s mother had been a singer in the 40s, working with the popular Meyer Davis band. Raised in Bronxville, New York, she studied classical music, becoming an accomplished pianist and violinist and she also sang in choral groups and studied voice privately. Planning a career in commerce, she attained an economics degree and worked for a while in banking and as a financial consultant. In 1980, she met pianist Hod O’Brien and soon thereafter abandoned her career and began singing with him (and later the couple were married). In the mid-80s, as a member of Jon Hendricks’ group, Company, she began attracting attention and capitalized on this with several well-received solo recordings.
Nakasian has played at many jazz festivals throughout Europe and the USA. With Jim Cullum, she has made numerous broadcasts, often in programmes of songs from the 30s and reflecting upon singers of that era, such as Helen Humes, Peggy Lee, Helen Ward and Lee Wiley. With the Pete Rugolo orchestra, she has appeared in a June Christy tribute and she has also worked with Dick Hyman on shows paying tribute to composers Hoagy Carmichael and Walter Donaldson. Among musicians with whom she has appeared both live and on record are Harry Allen, Wayne Andre, Urbie Green, Scott Hamilton, Milt Hinton, Vic Juris, Joe LaBarbera, Chuck Riggs, Clark Terry, Nabil Totah and Phil Woods. She has also appeared in Denmark with the Danish Radio Big Band. Nakasian has toured her concert revues, The Great Ladies Of American Song and other tribute concepts, to venues around the USA, especially on the university circuit. One of Nakasian’s concept shows, Band Singers To Broadway, Bebop And Beyond, forms the basis of a course at the University of Virginia that she teaches. She also teaches jazz voice and vocal jazz improvisation at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Additionally, Nakasian conducts seminars and workshops on many aspects of singing at colleges and universities.

Ever since she chose jazz singing over trading currency futures on Wall Street, Stephanie Nakasian has been one of the top singers in jazz, in addition to being an influential educator. Her extroverted style, influenced by both Ella Fitzgerald and bebop, is both accessible and adventurous, she is always in-tune, and she swings at every tempo. While she is not as famous as she deserves, she is well known and respected in the jazz world.
Irv Kratka, the founder of Inner City Records and Music Minus One, thought it would be a great idea if Stephanie recorded a full set of music in Billie Holiday's style. Stephanie knew right away that this would be difficult but was up for the challenge. "Billie Holiday is an advanced study. Her rhythm, which is often behind-the-beat, is not laidback and it actually has a lot of drive. She was very aware of what the rhythm was doing behind her but it did not dictate what she sand. There are few singers who can sing with the complexity of Billie Holiday.
The band on this CD is ideal. Trumpeter Randy Sandke has long shown the ability to play in most styles ranging from New Orleans and swing to modern. His concise solos and ensemble playing during these performances are full of fire and exhilarating chance taking of Berigan, Eldridge and Jones. Tenor-saxophonist Harry Allen does a fine job of sounding like early Ben Webster. Dan Block on clarinet and alto knows the early swing style very well. Rhythm guitarist Marty Grosz, bassist Neal Miner and drummer Chuck Riggs swing quietly but with intensity. Stephanie's husband Hod O'Brien, cast in the role of Teddy Wilson, had a particularly difficult task because he has his own masterful bop-oriented style, inspired by Bud Powell. After a period of time burying himself in Wilson's music, he decided that, even while paying tribute to Wilson's conception, it was important to also be himself.
The result is that the music is not a strict note-for-note recreation of the past but often sounds like an alternate take from the sessions, played by comparable musicians. While the arrangements are similar to the original recordings, there are some changes not only in the solos but in the frameworks. On first listen, one will naturally compare Stephanie Nakasian's singing to Billie Holiday's, but on repeated listenings, these new recordings have a life of their own. Stephanie does a remarkable job capturing Lady Day's spirit as well as her phrasing and strong hints of her voice. She gets it.
Billy Holiday's early music is colorblind, timeless, playful, and a great deal of fun. Stephanie Nakasian does her justice.
-Scott Yanow, from the liner notes.