Search - Carla White :: Sweetest Sounds

Carla White is the epitome of a New York City jazz vocalist. Her cool contralto combines ebullient phrasing and impassioned delivery with a comprehensive knowledge of the jazz tradition. This recording, her seventh as a leader, teams her with a first-rate rhythm section: drummer Tom Rainey, bassist Dean Johnson, and pianist Peter Madsen. Highlighting well-known and obscure standards, White's bossa nova rendition of Lionel Hampton's "Midnight Sun" and her treatment of Duke Ellington's ballad "I Didn't Know About You" feature the grand tenor saxophonist Lew Tabackin. White's scat skills encompass the bop vocal legacy of Jon Hendricks on "This Can't Be Love" and the percussive percolations of Al Jarreau on "Day In, Day Out." Percussionist Steve Berrios provides the Latin tinge on Cole Porter's "Love for Sale," which features White's "rap" delivery of the lyric. Billy Strayhorn's moody "Ballad for the Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters" is reborn by White as "Bittersweet," with lyrics by Roger Schore, and is the highlight of this sweet-sounding CD. --Eugene Holley, Jr.