CD Review: Libby York - Memoirs

Libby York (vcl); Warren Vaché (cor/vcl); John DiMartino (pno); Russell Malone (gtr); Martin Ward (bs); Greg Sergo (dms).

(Review by Lance).

Every so often a CD comes along that seems to have everything you want. Tunes and lyrics by the grand craftsmen of Tin Pan Alley, instrumental breaks by sympathetic musicians, and a singer who can interpret the GASbook in the vocal traditions created by such as Ella, Peggy, Billie, Anita, Frank etc and yet retain his/her individuality. This is just such a disc!

Where do I begin?

Well there are the songs - Give Me the Simple Life; When in Rome; Put it There Pal; Thanks For the Memory; Take Me Back to Manhattan; I Was Doing Alright; My Little Boat; Let's Call the Whole Thing Off; On a Slow Boat to China; How Long Has This Been Going on?; Walk Between the Raindrops - if I'd had to pick out the set list myself at least half of these would have been on it!

And the musicians. Warren Vaché on cornet, the best thing since sliced Braff, is so perfect for this type of set up. I have fond memories of a weekend at the Breda Jazz Festival back in 1982. I loved every minute of those few days and listening to Warren, (was he Warren Vaché Jnr. back then?) in the company of Guy Lafitte and Bob Wilber, contributed to some of those memories. Warren also duets vocally with Libby on a couple of numbers. How ironic that one of the numbers on this disc should be Thanks For The Memory with Vaché's cornet outstanding - he's certainly outgrown the junior tag! On guitar Russell Malone is another ace in this stacked deck. John DiMartino is great on piano although his predilection for the "a fish is an animal that swims in a brook" quote - he does it at least 3 times - perhaps partially undermines his creativity!

Now we come to Libby York. Her fourth album - how many  have Krall, Monheit and co made? York should have at least a dozen on the shelves! She hasn't, so make the most of this one. We're hardly into March 2014 but this is the one the pack's chasing.

You can catch her on March 26 at the Tennessee Williams Cabaret Theatre, Key West, Florida - excuse me, I got to go book an airline ticket...

Lance.
PS: Today is my birthday and THIS is the best present I've had - beats the Chevrolet hands down!