LaTanya Hall

New York City's LaTanya Hall's credits include working with Michael Feinstein, Steve Tyrell, Bobby McFerrin, Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, and as one of the "Dream Girls" during stage tours on the road. She's definitely in the burgeoning Nancy Wilson school of stylistic jazz singers, strictly doing standards here but mixing in a Latin lyric or beat, using strings on romantic ballads, or a big band to swing things along nicely. Arranger and conductor Angelo DiPippo gives Hall charts to challenge her sensibilities and emotive heart, and while they are at times a bit dense and overwhelming, do not stand in Hall's way to rise to the top of her craft. There's variety, depth, and substance in these tunes even though they are songs everybody knows, but if you listen closely, you are likely to hear the hard work involved in bringing these chestnuts to a new level. It doesn't hurt that the seasoned tenor saxophonist David Mann is the lead solo voice, that bassist David Finck, drummer Ron Zito, and percussionist Mauro Refosco are in the rhythm section, or that the horn section is peppered by fine musicians as saxophonists Gary Keller and Chuck Wilson, and trumpeter Glenn Drewes. Of the string things "The Nearness of You" and "Skylark" come closer to orchestral works in their breezy constructs, with Hall riding the currents. Her unique bossa nova take of "Summertime" has the singer on the trade winds of warmer climes of skyline atmospheres, with DiPippo contributing on the accordion. "Bluesette" mixes 5/4 and 6/8 meters in a refreshing new way, as Hall scats a bit, and Mann digs in. A bluesy version of "You Don't Know What Love Is" has the horn section stepping out crying, and they are in a bopping mood, settling into a groove for "It's Alright with Me." At her most energetic on "Great Day," Hall steps up on this venerable show tune, with the band roaring onward. Both Hall and the band find common ground during "Straighten Up & Fly Right," as the re-arrangement courtesy of DiPippo challenges both band and singer to, as the lyric says, "get right." Acoustic guitarist Jay Berliner is featured with Hall in a nice duet on "Like a Lover," a light Latin number, "Sabor a Mi," has Hall convincingly singing in Spanish, and the set concludes with the singer's own working quartet with modal bass and a wordless vocal for "A Lazy Afternoon." LaTanya Hall is an entertaining and competent singer who is due for further and greater things than this album intimates, but all of the elements for her pending stardom are clearly heard here. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide