Customer Reviews

Heart & Soul: Live in San Francisco

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On two nights in June of 2003 at the "Broadway Studios Nightclub" in North Beach, San Francisco, Kitty Margolis channelled Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Mark Murphy and Mel Torme, and created one of the finest live albums released in years.

The album begins with Gershwin's "Love Walked In," as Ms. Margolis sings, "Love walked right in and scared the sh......adows away." Right there she has the audience in the palm of her hand. And, it gets better and better. Consider "Summertime": here, a la Torme, she throws in quotes from "Fly Me to the Moon," the later covered "Surrey" and "Favorite Things," and the more obscure Jon Hendricks' "Mr. P.C." On "My Favorite Things", she does a glottle-yodel, and in the process, sounds exactly like Trane's soprano sax from the famous recording. And, she saves the best for last: an encore of "While We're Young" that left the audience--and will leave you--stunned and wanting more.

I purchased this at the same time as Diana Krall's "The Girl in the Other Room". Chances are great that Ms. Krall's album will sell 100,000 copies before this one sells 1,000. Once again, life isn't fair--but you knew that. So my advice to you is: right injustice. Buy this c.d.

A friend turned me on to Kitty Margolis a few years ago. I bought 3 of her studio CDs, love them all and was excited to see this new "live"release. I knew I'd like it but wasn't prepared to be this blown away. This is most kickin' live jazz vocal CD I have ever heard from any singer who is still alive. Margolis is a singer at the peak of her power.

I love the classic concert recordings of Sarah, Joe Williams, Betty Carter, and more recently, Eva Cassidy and this ranks with the very best of the best. I am not a real scat fan unless it is superbly done and I have to say this is the most exciting scatting I have heard. It is like she is channeling Coltrane on "Summertime".

What impresses me most it Margolis' emotional range. One minute I'm choking up ("Heart & Soul" and "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year") and the next I'm cracking up ("Your Mind is on Vacation" and "Drunk in San Francisco") She has total command of the audience and it is fun to hear them react to her witty in between song comments (which are there just enough to give you a taste of her charismatic personality.) Wish I'd been at the show, but this is so well recorded that it seems like I am.

This CD should be in the collection of every jazz fan, even those who don't particularly go for singers. Margolis has a devoted cult following and this release should do nothing but increase her fan base. Most highly recommended!

Kitty Margolis is absolutly astounding. I got "Heart and Soul" several weeks ago after seeing her name in the Down Beat Magazine Critics' Poll of "Best Jazz Vocalists" and haven't taken it out of my changer since.

Being passionate about vocal jazz has made me a bit of a snob about what does and doesn't cut it. No matter how much I try to find a contemporary jazz voice I like, I usually I prefer the classic singers like Ella, Irene Kral, Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughan rather than the superficial new crop of jazz vocal spokesmodels. Margolis has changed all that for me. She is my new favorite.

Margolis sounds completely fresh, yet she obviously understands the tradition deeply. She has total command of her voice as an improvisational instrument and her emotional depth is so impressive. Her interplay with the wonderful back up trio is telepathic. You can't fake this stuff since it is recorded LIVE. That is the true acid test IMHO.

Margolis is the jazz singer of the future. I wish I could give this 100 stars. Buy this CD - if you like real jazz singing you won't be sorry!

The feelings this album evoked absolutely blew me away. I'm Always Drunk In San Francisco was the first song that stood out -- I woke all my neighbors up when my friends and I came home from the bars at 2:30 a.m. and played it over and over singing. The funny thing is that most of my friends don't really listen to jazz at all (they are all between 23 and 35 yrs. old), but they LOVED I'm Always Drunk in San Francisco, Your Mind is On Vacation, Summertime, My Favorite Things, and Surrey With A Fringe on Top. They just felt those songs, for whatever reason, and Kitty spoke to them. Kitty Margolis has the sign of a truly great artist -- one who can transform someone's feelings about a certain form of art in one minute.

In an age where most jazz singing is focused on beautiful background music, Heart and Soul stands out as an example of the kind of jazz that is definitely foreground music. It's exciting, it's fun, it's moving, it's virtuosic, it's an example of the kind of jazz that makes you jump for joy.

This is, in my opinion, undoubtedly one of the best jazz albums of the last decade--and judging by the critical acclaim it's been getting, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Just listen to the explosive version of Summertime, the heartbreaking renditions of Heart and Soul and While We're Young, and the funky, happy version of Surrey, and you'll know what I mean.

A remarkable performance--and one to treasure for years to come!

Kitty Margolis doesn't know how to put out a less than superior product. Her Heart and Soul recording is Kitty at her finest, in front of an adoring audience. She is spectacular in her stage presence and delivery of these great tunes.

Fabulous CD, I got it as a recommendation from a friend and was never happier! I only wish I was there when it was recorded. Kitty shows off her vocal talent (including scat) and is a San Francisco treasure . Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

This singer just gets more and more interesting with each CD. Heart and Soul is a perfect example of stellar jazz singing. It's so encouraging to hear A REAL jazz singer for a change. She has humor, great chops, wonderful ears and it's all in abundance on her new CD. I love her version of the title track, Heart and Soul. Summertime is a burner-- she knows her way around the chord changes. If you want to hear the real deal....GET THIS CD!

I have all Kitty's previous releases and love them, but with this one I just feel she is trying way to hard....she goes all over the place and I cant help but feel that she looses the essence of the songs.....if I want Betty carter I listen to her same with Sarah or Ella...I wanted to hear Kitty again but alas i just hear shades of the others before her....