Lori Zuroff does jazz like no other jazz singer. Zuroff, on her first release, Ladybug, offers a pleasant array of classic jazz pieces. Although these titles have been familiar to serious music fans for generations, Zuroff, with a combination of style and finesse, confidence and knowledge, and sexy cool, transforms them into songs that are fun all over again.
Opening song “You Made Me Love You” finds this jazz singer finessing the space between thick lines from the rhythm section, piano, and saxophone. Zuroff stands amidst the bulbous notes from these players to sing her vocal melody line in and around what goes on instrumentally. The entire band becomes the groove as Zuroff gives the piece its swing, swaying her voice in the available space between interactive diagonal lines of sly musicianship.
“When Sunny Gets Blue” lets Zuroff showcase what she can with a jazz piano bar number. She applies her supple vocals around smatterings of Molly Flannery’s cool piano notes. One can picture a dejected former lover sitting at the bar droning his or her sorrows as a singer massages the tenderness out of the lyrics while a sensitive pianist tinkles away more layers of forlorn memories.
“Meditation” gets a sweet kick start from Flannery’s pretty melodic notes. Zuroff makes the most of the economy of space opened up by her subtle rhythm section, bass player Bill McCormack and drummer Miki Matsuki. It is more than pleasant to hear how Zuroff glides her over Flannery’s gentle spanks of piano chords as well as her traveling single notes. Brief vocal sustains lets Zuroff add an emotional empathy, a technique that seems minor while adding extra emphasis with their brevity.
Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness Of You” gets a velvety treatment here. Zuroff’s silky voice eases forward while sounding out nuances in each verse. She breathes three dimensional life into these timeless words, combining suggestion with technique. Saxophonist Bill Vint takes an emotive flight of fancy with an upward spiral of notes that makes this rendition feel like it’s bringing us to a higher place, a livelier party than the one we started out at.
The Fats Waller classic “Honeysuckle Rose” moves like a hip, slow dance, an inspiration for couples to take the dance floor to move in slow suggestive circles. Zuroff fills this one with a seductive tone, a voice that uses a come hither tone. She controls this piece by only giving as much as needed in between a motion-filled groove and a sly touch of piano beside her. Saxophonist Bill Vint takes the spotlight to infuse this number with an alluring romantic vibe he creates with a thick melodic line that dances around the open spaces of the groove below.
Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” moves like a giant cloud on a warm summer day. Zuroff and her players maintain a balance between size, emotion, and tempo. Zuroff flavors this with an emotive wideness even though she restrains her speed and expression. This rendition passes through her lips as light as a whispery breeze. Yet, it feels like something large is passing through. Flannery’s piano tinkling moves through similar speed and wideness, each note expressing a world of feeling with numerous notes drizzling down.
“You Don’t Know What Love Is” finds Zuroff singing in her widest voice on his album. Expanding her timbre, dynamics, and projection, this vocalist paints a complex portrait of mankind’s greatest passion. She carries her listener through in a swaying vocal that contrasts brilliantly with Vint’s flirty saxophone, Flannery’s plaintive piano chords, and all over a blanket of groove.
Final track “For All We Know” requires Zuroff to become sensitive, tender, and vulnerable. Her vocal work, coyer here, falls like a gentle rain, her voice running down the space just beyond Flannery’s light sprinkle of lonely single notes. Voice and piano carry us through this sad, contemplative piece, and the partnership between the singer and the instrument have this rendition sewn together with something special.
Lori Zuroff has made a special contribution to our local New England jazz scene with this Ladybug album. Zuroff and her band mates deliver a lively and enjoyable collection of songs that illustrates that jazz can be a fun genre to listen as well one that challenges both listener’s and players. This kind of application of jazz keeps it fresh for a whole new generation while pulling in older fans of these favorites. Recorded at PBS Studios in Westwood, Massachusetts, Zuroff’s Ladybug finds it strength in how well these songs were recorded for this album.
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