TOWN & VILLAGE - "ARTS BEAT" - Barry Bassis
Shea Breaux Wells’ new album is titled, “A Blind Date”, because the jazz singer had not worked with any of the musicians on the album. Flying with no net, they worked out the songs and the arrangements at the sessions. The result is real improvised jazz, establishing Wells as a formidable newcomer.
She certainly has self-confidence, taking on challenging be-bop pieces like Night in Tunisia, I Remember Clifford and Caravan with these superb jazzmen: George Cables on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Craig Handy on sax and flute and David Weiss (who also produced the album) on trumpet. She won me over at the start with her sultry rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Baltimore Oriole,” beginning the number accompanied only by McBee before the others join in. Her own composition, “Dark Matters,” featuring a hot sax solo by Handy, is mysterious and sounds like the title song of a movie or television show. Her voice is rich and distinctive and the band members do not hold back. Their accompaniments swirl around while Wells is singing (but never overwhelm her) and then erupt during their solos.
Shea is playing the Iridium on May 21 with an exciting group (David Weiss, Craig Handy, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart and Danny Grissett). Exccept for Grissett (who subs on the gig for George Cables), this is the band on the CD.
Shea Breaux Wells’ new album is titled, “A Blind Date”, because the jazz singer had not worked with any of the musicians on the album. Flying with no net, they worked out the songs and the arrangements at the sessions. The result is real improvised jazz, establishing Wells as a formidable newcomer.
She certainly has self-confidence, taking on challenging be-bop pieces like Night in Tunisia, I Remember Clifford and Caravan with these superb jazzmen: George Cables on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Craig Handy on sax and flute and David Weiss (who also produced the album) on trumpet. She won me over at the start with her sultry rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Baltimore Oriole,” beginning the number accompanied only by McBee before the others join in. Her own composition, “Dark Matters,” featuring a hot sax solo by Handy, is mysterious and sounds like the title song of a movie or television show. Her voice is rich and distinctive and the band members do not hold back. Their accompaniments swirl around while Wells is singing (but never overwhelm her) and then erupt during their solos.
Shea is playing the Iridium on May 21 with an exciting group (David Weiss, Craig Handy, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart and Danny Grissett). Exccept for Grissett (who subs on the gig for George Cables), this is the band on the CD.
