Kim Nazarian: Some Morning

Self-produced
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Some Morning

In spite of her years of experience on the musical stage, this is vocalist Kim Nazarian’s first album, and it’s a technical tour de force. More than 25 musicians, vocalists, engineers, mixers, masters and producers participated. 

Nazarian got her start as one of the founding members of the famed New York Voices. She’s the overall vocalist here, and is joined on some by Peter Eldridge — a former New York voices member — and her son, Ian Ashby. Various instrumentalists appear on one or more tracks, and it’s quite the family affair: pianists Mark Shilansky and Mark Soskin; bassists Dwayne Dolphin and Leo Traversa; trumpeters Sean Jones and Steve Hawk; trombonist Jay Ashby (Nazarian’s husband); reedists Paquito D'Rivera, Greg Nazarian (her father), Anna Nelson, Jesse McCandless and Alexa Still; guitarists John Pizzarelli, Marty Ashby (her brother in-law) and Jiro Yoshida; drummers Roger Humphries and Jamey Haddad; vibist Gary Burton; and harpist Caitlin Mehrtens.

Nor are we done. Production utilized half a dozen recording studios and many mixers, masters and engineers. That’s where the technology comes in; most of the tracks were recorded with various combos, but several featured a virtual “big band.” The instrumental horns/sections were overdubbed in the studio by clever engineers! “Road to Kursk,” a variant of an old bebop tune, is the prime example; you’d swear that an entire big band had been involved.

Nazarian is a true jazz vocalist; she makes you believe she has “lived” the lyrics. She’s also one of the great scatters: Her voice — tone, clarity, expression and capability to improvise — blends perfectly with other voices and horns.

I hope we’ll hear more from Nazarian, her family members and friends.

New York Voices: Live

Palmetto Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: New York Voices Live

Fans categorizing jazz tend to concentrate on the stars of the bands and combos, and the vocalists who worked with such groups. Often overlooked are the vocal groups that have gained fame, either as an attraction on their own, or as part of a big band. Remember Glenn Miller’s Modernaires, and Tommy Dorsey’s Pied Pipers? 

Such groups were — and are — famed as artists in their own right: Think of the Hi-Lo’s, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices. All these groups did things in the jazz genre that hadn’t been done before, and the latter two remain active. This album features New York Voices, with one of the world’s best big bands: the WDR Big Band Cologne.

New York Voices began in 1987, as an Ithaca College alumni group. The first generation was a quintet consisting of two guys and three gals; today it’s a quartet with two guys and two gals. Damon Meader, Peter Eldridge and Kim Nazarian are original members; Lauren Kinhan is the newcomer. From 1989 through 2007, the ensemble released seven albums; this album with the WDR Big Band is their first in almost seven years, and marks their 25^th anniversary. 

The 10 tunes here include four beautiful old standards (“Love Me or Leave Me,” “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” “Darn That Dream” and “Almost Like Being in Love”), and two by Paul Simon (“Baby Driver” and “I Do It for Your Love”), along with Oliver Nelson and Mark Murphy’s “Stolen Moments” and three originals by members of the quartet.

The arrangements are stunning. Each performer is outstanding as a soloist; their combined efforts, harmonically and rhythmically, are fantastic. As for the WDR Big Band, its reputation as the world’s best steadily working jazz orchestra is absolutely accurate; the orchestrations and soloists are a match for anything I’ve heard in years.

This is a fer-shur Grammy winner, and an album that every jazz fan will adore.