I quote from the publicity notes, which is as good a description as any: 'performing uplifting music during the pandemic that is both realistic and swinging. Their set of standards and two of the singer's originals are filled with warm vocals, boppish piano solos, fresh ideas, and variety'.
To enlarge on the above, Ms DuMaine sings some quite sad love songs in a jaunty, pacey, style, as in I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan, which suggests that the song is about survival, good to hear about during a pandemic. I knew I was enjoying the album when I realised that I was tapping my feet, especially to numbers such as As Long As I Live (Harold Arlen), an amusing love song about looking after your health as well as your love life.
The voice is fresh, tuneful, and the style is thoughtful when needed, as on Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now. The instrumentalists do their stuff with aplomb, solos mostly from a pianist who never completely leaves the main tune behind, which I find appealing. Full marks for a varied selection of songs, including Gilbert O'Sullivan's Alone Again (Naturally), a down-to-earth account of loss.
The original songs are Someday, Someday, in which the singer wonders how life will be after the pandemic, a Latin beat from drums and percussion; the other is Time To Get Unstuck, with a 1970's style groove and lyrics about getting out of a rut. Then there is Cry Me A River, a song performed maybe somewhat too often, but this version gets by as a fast jazz waltz with a fine bass solo.
Ms DuMaine grew up in the San Francisco area and still lives in Northern California. She has acted on the stage and in commercials and voice-overs and is also a professor of voice and speech. This is the sixth album that she has recorded with her father's band, the Dave Miller Trio. Mr Miller is from Long Island, New York. He has been playing piano since the age of three, was classically trained, but switched to playing jazz as a teenager.
The CD, issued on Summit Records, is available everywhere. See www.rebeccadumaine.com
Ann
Alex
Just
Friends; Alone Again (Naturally); Samba De Mon Coeur Qui Bat; The Gentleman Is
A Dope; Someday, Someday; Both Sides Now; Time To Get Unstuck (Happy Little New
Song); As Long As I Live; On A Clear Day; I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan;
Cry Me A River; La Vie En Rose/Au
Privave; Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams; Sunny.
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