Search - Rebecca Parris :: My Foolish Heart

A very connected collection

Julia Bassett | Norwich, VT United States | 05/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A great song performed by a master vocalist gives form to our own experiences. In the hands of singer Rebecca Parris, the jazz standard is lifted to new heights. No one with a soul could not be moved by most of the material on My Foolish Heart, a career triumph for Ms. Parris. No stranger to swing, Parris is an "instrumentalist's singer", who can bop and scat with the top names of vocal jazz. To set all that aside for an album of moderate tempos that never sag and wow them with amazing nuances of vocal line is no small risk in today's cut-throat commercial scene. The listener may slide from one tune to the next, supported by the cream of instrumentalists and sound engineers who help keep the sense of cohesion and interest the album possesses.Bonus: you can actually hum these to yourself in the subway if the batteries to your discman die!"

My Foolish Heart is a Winner!

Julia Bassett | 03/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vocalist Rebecca Parris is one of the only vocalists out there today who can get away with doing a CD containing all ballads - and it is a masterpiece! Ms. Parris caresses each song lovingly and truly tells a story. A must have for fans of great singing and great songs."

Authoritative and Compelling

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 11/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's no shortage of releases by female singers these days, unless you're talking performers who, like Sinatra on his best "concept" albums, are capable of sustaining a program of torchers--"saloon songs," or "suicide songs," as Sinatra called them, those soliloquies of the solitary soul that require us to journey to a quiet place where the world disappears and time stops. Shirley Horn accomplished it--with a great assist from Johnny Mandel--on "Here's to Life." Jack Jones did it recently on his Tony Bennett Tribute CD. And Rebecca Parris pulls it off on this session.Hers is a distinctive voice--it might take some getting used to but it's arguably impossible not to. She grabs the listener by the collar and shakes him into submission. The bold yet androgynous timbre, the slow and wide vibrato, the conscious shaping of every phrase and effect and the commanding skills of a great dramatic actress practically assure the assent of the listener, even someone unfamiliar with the tunes.And the song selections couldn't be better. "When October Goes" rivals the singular performance of the tune by Rosemary Clooney, just as "Crazy He Calls Me," an inspired choice, does justice by the classic Etta Jones' performance. Perhaps the singer takes the most chances on "Never Let Me Go," investing an already hypnotic melody with the emotional urgency of a Method actress. Her version of Tad Dameron's "If You Could See Me Now" would eclipse other versions by female singers (no one's matched Johnny Hartman's version), were it not for the unfortunate addition of synthesized effects to the sensitive support of the piano trio.As for anyone who finds a program like this "boring," perhaps the problem rests less with the borer than the boree."