Laine album captivating

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 26

Laine album captivating

JAZZ

CLEO LAINE, WITH ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY JONATHAN TUNICK, “Cleo Sings Sondheim” (RCA ARLI 6042). How appropriate that a great contemporary singer and a great contemporary songwriter should be linked to produce this captivating LP.

RCA has released "Cleo Sings Sondheim” to coincide with the forthcoming New Zealand tour by Cleo Laine, John Dankworth and the John Dankworth Quartet. It is to be fervently hoped that some of this material will be performed here. Several vocal “stars” have recently launched into the popular field with very mixed results. The voices, of course, are

splendid, but the singers seldom sound comfortable in the genre — there is not the intuitive sense of phrasing, articulation, and

feel appropriate for the music. There are no such problems for Laine. In this field, she is virtually peerless. Her vocal and emotional range, her vitality, sensitivity, grace, dramatic perception, articulation, range and virtuosity shine forth in these songs. Stephen Sondheim is a challenging songwriter. He is no Tin Pan Alley workhorse and his songs, thank heavens, will not finish up on the muzak heap. They need to be listened to attentively. There are 16 songs on the LP, taken from nine of Sondheim’s shows. They range from the brash to the beautiful, the raunchy to the reflective. Some are theatrical, some wryly cynical; the ballads are touchingly tender. — FRANK COLLINS BOBBY MCFERRIN “Spontaneous Inventions.” (Blue Note CD CDP-7-46298-2 ADD). "Singing is fun!” Bobby McFerrin sums it all up as he takes leave of his enthusiastic audience. Be B/epared for a vi-

brant musical experience. McFerrin is fairly bursting with creativity. His endless cascade of musical ideas and effortless delivery almost left me breathless. He also has a delightful and infectious sense of joy and fun. Vocalese is a demanding style of jazz singing which uses the voice as a musical instrument in its own right. It appears to have originated in the bebop era of the 19405. McFerrin takes vocalese to new heights. He certainly is well equipped to do this; he has an astonishing vocal range — he is able to sing with perfect pitch in several registers seemingly at the same time. Variety is the keynote on this DC. The tracks range from Lennon and McCartney’s “From Me To You” and Joan Armatrading’s “Opportunity” to the jazz standard “I Hear Music.” Four McFerrin originals are also included. He is joined by Herbie Hancock “Turtle Shoes” and Wayne Shorter “Walkin’’ for memorable examples of the art of jazz improvisation at its most inspiring level. On the latter number it becomes almost impossible to distinguish McFerrin’s voice from Shorter’s soaring soprano saxophone. Robin Williams, who obviously is also a very talented vocalist, teams up with McFerrin for the witty “Beverly Hills Blues.” Without a doubt the high point of this recording is “Another Night In Tunisia.” Here McFerrin is accompanied by the Manhattan Transfer and there is also a cameo appearance by the doyen of vocalese, Jon Hendricks. This must be one of the definitive versions of the Dizzie Gillespie classic, which even on its own would surely justify purchase of this discu, —GARY NfIJOL