Tierney Sutton has long been a wide-ranging explorer as a vocalist, not satisfied with the standard jazz canon or typical approaches to songs. Together with her long-running band (pianist
Christian Jacob, bassists
Trey Henry and
Kevin Axt, plus drummer
Ray Brinker, all but one of whom have been with her since prior to her 1998 debut CD),
Sutton finds songs she likes and works with her musicians to create provocative arrangements that keep the essence of melodies within reach while making thoughtful use of space and surprising rhythms. Opening with a focus on traditional songs,
Sutton's warm voice is complemented by
Brinker's hip backbeat and
Jacob's darting piano. Her medley of "Oh Shenandoah" and "The Water Is Wide" is full of surprises, with her rich wordless vocal in the former bracketing the latter as its centerpiece, with
Jacob interweaving "Oh Shenandoah" into his backing of the singer in "The Water Is Wide." The humorous introduction to
George Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" sounds like one of the two themes from
Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse," though the piece quickly takes an ominous turn in
Sutton's dramatic, driving setting. Two more pieces from Porgy and Bess follow, a harmonically rich yet melancholy "Summertime" and a powerful "My Man's Gone Now" that incorporates an insistent vamp to increase its emotional impact.
Sutton also explores the music of Broadway with three selections from the
Leonard Bernstein/
Stephen Sondheim hit musical West Side Story, highlighted by her moving treatment of "Somewhere." The finale is a harmonically rich duet with
Jacob of "America the Beautiful," a beloved song that jazz vocalists have long overlooked. ~ Ken Dryden