(Reprinted from the May 2021 issue of New York City Jazz Record)
Peggy Lee wasn’t born with that name. Her given name, back in May 1920, was Norma Deloris Egstrom. But for some impulsive reason lost to time, the radio host of one of her earliest professional gigs assigned her the now-celebrated anonym, and it stuck. Not only did it stick, it made music history: Peggy Lee went on to become one of the most known (and prolific) jazz and pop singers of her generation.
Last June, in honor of the singer/songwriter’s birthday centennial, PBS aired Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee, an updated version of the 2004 documentary chronicling her spectacular career. As a follow-up, Omnivore Recordings last month released a two-disc companion package to that documentary—Something Wonderful: Peggy Lee Sings the Great American Songbook, 40 previously unissued tracks from Lee’s own radio program in the early 1950s.
Though remastered, these tunes retain all the ping of the analog originals. Listen to her translucent intonation on the rangy “If I Were A Bell”; her blue notes on the ballad “Old Rockin’ Chair”; and her relaxed back-phrasing on “That Old Black Magic.” She also chats collegially with guests Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Frank Loesser, and Matt Dennis, at times joining these pioneering composers in duet performances. Listening to these tracks today, it’s as if Peggy Lee were broadcasting from midtown and seven decades had disappeared into the ethers. Some names never lose their luster.
Creative jazz composer Lauren Lee (no relation to Peggy) flies solo on The Queen of Cups (ears&eyes), in a departure from her usual duo or trio gigs. Lauren, never at a loss for intriguing compositional ideas, makes full use of her vocal and pianistic talents here as well, from traditional piano accompaniment underneath spare, moody vocals on the original ballads “Cogitation” and “Cocoon”, to the cleverly executed vocalese showcases “Up In the Air” and “Another Reality”, to fresh, modern reworkings of Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin’s “If I Should Lose You” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”. As an improvisatory musician, Lauren is at her best on this record, equal parts masterful and vulnerable. She’ll be live-streaming the release concert from Soapbox Gallery on May 17.
Vocalist Charmaine Lee (no relation to Lauren or Peggy) recently accepted a Lier Fellowship at Roulette, affording her the opportunity to “create, rehearse, experiment, and investigate new directions” in her craft. Her process is to manipulate vocal sounds to an extreme, applying all manner of electronic effects (amplification, distortion, feedback) in generating wholly new auditory experiences. Her first solo full-length LP, KNVF, which came out on the French label Erratum Musical this past March, thus redefines vocal art: Charmaine doesn’t so much sing as design abstract tableaux with her voice.
By contrast, industry-decorated singer Dara Tucker exalts exquisite timbre, stirring melodies and warm harmonies on Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World (Green Hill Music). For her latest album, the Oklahoma native draws from the classic singer-songwriter canon to build a program that affirms our gentler selves: a jazz-funk take on “You Haven’t Done Nothin’”, a reharmonized “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, a beseeching “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today”. Tucker excels as a songwriter herself; her original “Do We Sleep” drives home the album’s forward-looking message with burnished vocals, silky horn lines (saxophonist John Ellis, trumpeter Giveton Gelin) and delicate comping (pianist Sullivan Fortner). The album, as much about promise as redemption, drops on May 28.
This year the Jazz Journalists Association honors singer Louise Rogers with a JJA Jazz Hero Award, in large measure for her work in energizing the upper Manhattan jazz scene. In 2014, Rogers and pianist Mark Kross founded Jazz WaHi, an ever-evolving non-profit that promotes jazz education and performances in the Hudson Heights section of the city. What started as a weekly jazz jam at a local pub now includes a monthly vocal jazz series, an annual jazz festival and, most recently, a composer’s commission. Most impressive of all, Rogers and Kross have continued to host performances throughout the pandemic with nary a letup. Check out their virtual “Jazz Hang and Salon” on Wednesdays, their plein air concerts on Tuesdays in Bennett Park, this month’s vocal series featuring the gifted Erli Perez on May 6 and the 4th Annual Washington Heights Jazz Festival this November, at which young composer Robert Fernandez will unveil the 2021 commissioned piece, “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”.