Customer Reviews

Andrea Baker Table For One

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an alumni of the Lionel Hampton and Woody Herman Orchestras, I feel compelled to comment on this beautifully produced CD, "Table for One." I've listened to the album dozens of times, and I hear new things each time. There are many great ballad singers, and many wonderful blues and up-tempo singers, but Andrea Baker does it all. Just listen to her scatting on "Avalon", and then turn around and send chills up your spine on the beautiful ballad, "Table for One. " Ms. Baker's singing is full of surprises, yet seems to go exactly where you want it to.
Steve Wilkerson on saxophones sounds like Phil Woods, Cannonball Adderley, and Ron Cuber all rolled into one, and yet manages to have an identity all his own. One of the best damn jazz albums to come down the pike in the past 20 years. Buy it!

I loved discovering this beautiful CD. The arrangements played by incredible musicians were complex, compelling and emotionally stirring. Ms. Baker transported me to the highs of swinging to Avalon and crying to The Folks Who Live On the Hill. She is a brilliant interpreter as well as technically flawless. I will never tire of listening to this CD and I can't wait for her next release.

It's been a long time since listening to jazz has given me the chills, but it happened when I popped Andrea Baker's TABLE FOR ONE into my computer's CD player.The title track alone is worth the price of the CD, but that's not all. The classic American songs she has chosen to fill this CD are timeless, elegant entertainment, made fresh and exciting again by her eloquent vocal phrasing.
But there's more. Her husband, Steve Wilkerson and his sideman provide astounding jazz that is so much more than you could ever hope to expect. Like so many jazz fans, I used to bemoan the fact that the greatest jazz musicians and vocalists are no longer living and I could only experience their artistry through recordings made long ago. I WAS WRONG!! Here is a living talent to excite jazz fans; a rare commodity in this jaded world. MY OPINION: if you like the music of Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Boswell, Jimmie Lunceford, Harry Connick,Jr., Sinatra and all the rest, BUY THIS CD! Also, check out the CD's by Andrea's husband, Steve Wilkerson, a musician's musician. You will be very happy! (I know; we've got them all.)
Jazz fans, don't give up. The best singers and musicians are not all dead. Two of them, Andrea Baker and Steve Wilkerson,are here with us and I hope they will be for a long time.

The bad news the last few years has been the loss of many of our greatest female jazz vocalist. The good news is that there are many female jazz singers looking to make their mark and take the places vacated by Sarah, Ella, June and the others. Most of these singers have pleasant voices and are capable of crooning a tasty ballad and are often backed by capable jazz players. I love most of their music! I do however find that most of these ladies can get tedious by the end of today's lengthy CD's. That is where a singer with the creative skill of Andrea Baker is capable of making those dreamy ballads seem personal and at the same time swing gently as on "Dream Dancing." She also is the "Queen of Scat." You can hear Andrea use her voice, not as an additional horn such as Kay Davis used to do for Ellington, but as a solo instrument ad-libbing along side other jazz players, "It Don't Mean A Thing" and "Avalon" on this album are excellent examples. Andrea scats, trades "fours" and never loses her grip on the tune or what is taking place all around her. This ability is evident on most of her recordings and certainly places her at the top of the elite few who are truly Jazz vocalists. TABLE FOR ONE is a Five star recording.

What more could you ask for in a CD of popular songs! The majority of tracks are supported by an eleven-piece band of top class West Coast musos and there are also three tracks supported by a smaller band. Frank Capp & Gerald Wiggins will require no introduction, and ex-Kenton man Steve Wilkerson is proving to be a real heavyweight across the saxaphone family.
The album starts with the relaxing title track, builds up to a swinging frenzy with good ol' good ones like If I Were A Bell & Avalon & ends with a very tasteful rendition of The Folks Who Live On The Hill featuring Barry Zweig. And the great thing about it is that at no time does it try to be anything that it isn't.
But the real star here is the singer. Andrea demonstrates that she is equally at home with the fast stuff as well as ballads & can cut it with the very best. If this is studio work I would travel a long way to see a live gig, even though the recording quality is outstanding. Keep up the good work Andrea. We look forward to many more!

Andrea Baker's album is a gem! The title song, "Table for One", is a beautiful original ballad,and Ms. Baker's interpretation is stunningly haunting, as is her rendition of "Close Enough for Love." "Avalon" is my personal uptempo favorite, and the pandemonium at the end of this version (complete with scatting) will leave you breathless.
Steve Wilkerson is also an incredible talent. He is as adept on the alto as he is on the baritone...it'll aggravate the heck out of most horn players. The musicianship on this album is of the highest calibre. Andrea Baker and Steve Wilkerson are an incredibly talented team, and their love of music and dedication to the art of jazz is apparent. Looking forward to the next CD!

I loved discovering this incredible CD. The arrangements played beautifully by the big band musicians were complex, engaging and compelling. Ms. Baker's singing emotionally transported me; one moment I'm swinging with Avalon and tearful with The Folks Who Live On the Hill. She is truly a soulful interpreter, and technically brilliant. I'm looking forward to Andrea Baker's next CD.

I have all of Andrea Baker's (and her husband Steve Wilkerson's) CDs and they are all five stars in my estimaton. I love jazz, and these two do it right.

While the arrangements of Sandy Megas are surely in a class all their own (he, for the record in the opinion of this critic ranks right up there Holman, Nestico, and all the great arrangers past and present.), the vocal stylings of Andrea Baker are a pure dissapointment. Her "nasal alto", and poor interputations of the material presented leave the listener reaching for a bucket...the next Ella she surely is not! Infact, if she were never to record again the music world would not be missing a thing.

As for the band itself, it's a tight nit group of players who by all counts would do very well recording on thier own, and without Ms. Baker.

The saxophone soloist Steve Wilkerson just does not cut it for this listener, as he struggles in vain to prove that he can "imitate" Phil Woods. I have heard other releases by this artist, and they all pretty much sound the same. While he is indeed a ferious player he needs to focus on developing his own sound to set him apart from the rest of the post-bop clones out there.

A better named title for the album would be "Table For None", for with Ms. Baker as the feature it's quite dissapointing.

This CD is a refreshing style reminiscence of Ella Fitzgerald. Very well done!