Customer Reviews

The Old Mercer Magic!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Listen to these wonderful singers singin' twelve great selections from the Johnny Mercer songbook.

Great and swingin' versions of 'Jeepers Creepers' (by Janis Siegel), 'I'm old Fashioned' (by Laurel Massé in a voice & bass duet) and 'Riding on the Moon' (by Lauren Kinham).

We find the trio singin' charming harmonies on five tracks (Spring, Spring, Spring, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, Accentuate de Positive, Dream and Moon Country).

Talkin' about the ladies Janis is member of The Manhattan Transfer and Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra, Lauren is member of New York Voices and Moss and Laurel Massé is founding member of The Manhattan Transfer.

At the instrumental side of the recording there are relevant names like Cindy Cashdollar, David Finck, Yaron Gershovsky, Lew Soloff, Frank Vignola or Matt Wilson.

THAT OLD MERCER MAGIC! is an exquisite collection of both familiar and unfamiliar Johnny Mercer tunes featuring tight, lush vocal harmonies and clever, fresh arrangements. And my gosh, how wonderful it is to hear Laurel Massé and Janis Siegel sing together again!! New York Voices singer Lauren Kinhan's pure vocals blend perfectly with theirs on the group numbers. Added bonus: each of these great singers has the opportunity to shine on her own solo numbers. THAT OLD MERCER MAGIC! is without a doubt an instant classic.

Great vocals, great voices, and Johnny Mercer. Thank you Janis Siegal for all your hard work on this joyous CD.

While the c.d. announces that JaLaLa is Janis Siegel, Laurel Masse (her old Manhattan Transfer colleague from decades past) and Lauren Kinhan (her friendly rival from the New York Voices), it is evident that this is Ms. Siegel's album. After all, she is the producer, and she wrote both the vocal arrangements and the liner notes.

One would expect that singers of this pedigree would knock out a top-drawer production, and they do. For example, the harmonies of "Dream" are to die for, and the scat of "Jeepers Creepers" will have you dancing around the room.

But how many productions of Johnny Mercer tunes have there been over the years? (Yes, I know, it's the 100th anniversary of his birthday. But still....) It seems to me that really to pull something like this off in 2009, you have to make it new and different. For example, the version of "Ridin' On the Moon" here is great and all, but it reminds me too much of how Lena Horne sang the song, 60 years ago.

But that said, there are three absolute gems here:

1) Track 2, "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby": People have disagreed with me here, but I think it's brilliant. Siegel goes outside the vocal jazz box and puts this song into the 21st century. Aiding the production is DJ Sugarkone, and indeed, the song has a hip-hop feel; yet, at times, it sounds like something the Dave Matthews Band would have pulled off.

2) Track 9, "Moon River": How many goopfests of this song have we heard over the years? Here, with Ms. Masse singing beautifully over only Frank Vignola's guitar, this rendition is stunning.

3) Track 12 (and last), "The Dance of Life": Surely one of the most obscure of all the Mercer songbook, this rendition is drop-dead gorgeous. With Ms. Siegel doing the honors with Yaron Gershovsky on piano and Sara Caswell on violin, this "chanson" sounds positively classical.

If the rest of this c.d. were up to the caliber of these 3 cuts, I'd not only give the disc a high 5, I'd call it one of the best of the year. As it is, I'm at 4 and 1/2. To bump up or not to bump up? Let's see here: Eenie, meenie, mynie...Oh, to hell with it. It's Christmas. 5 stars. RC

I didn't give it 5 stars because I think it could have swung a bit harder like Janis does on her own - but these women are fantastic. Please record another CD!

Anything that has Janis Siegel's voice attached to it resounds like it came straight from Heaven! What an incredible CD!

When Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé and Lauren Kinhan teamed up to do this Johnny Mercer tribute album, they really did a fine job. Although for a single CD compilation they could pick only a very small percentage of Johnny's finest hits, the numbers we get here are sheer bliss and these ladies never miss a beat! They get fine musical accompaniment by the likes of Lew Soloff, Frank Vignola, Matt Wilson and more! The quality of the sound is excellent and I love that artwork, too.

"Spring, Spring, Spring" starts the CD with wonderful singing; the music fits perfectly with their singing and it makes a great opening number for the album. I especially like the arrangement for the percussion and that jazzy flavor works wonders for this ballad from the musical entitled "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" starts with a rarely heard opening verse; and when these songbirds go into the main portion of this song it really takes flight! I love it. How's about that guitar? It sounds so good as they do this number up right!

"Jeepers Creepers" from "Going Places" is easy on the ear; what a fine piano arrangement! I love the arrangement; it makes this electric and they deliver this without ever letting go of a single superfluous note! "Accentuate The Positive (which is also known as `Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive'" has a somewhat unusual arrangement but it all holds its own very well; it's actually a major highlight of this album and I think you'll like it very much. In addition, "Dream" from "Daddy Long Legs" is heavenly; I could listen to this over and over again and never tire of it! "Dream" is another major highlight of the CD.

"I'm Old Fashioned" gets the royal treatment from Jalala and that bass adds a lot to the arrangement. "Riding on the Moon" is very jazzy; and the medley of "Moon River" and "Moon Country" impresses me--this is great music.

"Too Marvelous For Words" showcases their sophisticated ability to deliver a ballad so very well; and the CD ends well with Jalala performing "The Dance of Life." "The Dance of Life" is quite well done and even with those minor keys it's really rather pretty.

Jalala ranks high in my book and this release is perfect for any fan of Johnny Mercer. In addition, people who enjoy classic jazz vocals would do well to add this to their collections.

This is a brilliantly produced CD. The vocals are fabulous. Together, Janis, Lauren, and Laurel create delicious harmonies. Their solo sections make you want to hear more. Each time I listen to a song from this CD, I hear something I did not hear before. That is MAGIC! I hope this is the beginning of great things to come. JALALA honors Mercer in a masterful way.

All of these women are excellent vocalists with an outstanding body of solo and ensamble work. The collaborators Frank Vignola (of Woody Herman fame) and Yaron Gershovsky (ManTran music director) are first rate. Unfortunately, this endevor falls significantly short of their prior efforts. The interesting harmonies, counterpoint, vocalese and other vocal gymnastics that characterized Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices are not present here. I would recommend the Johnny Mercer album by the late Susannah McCorkle instead.

This group, JaLaLa, has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it didn't measure up in this first CD. I had heard "Dream" on our local jazz station and was so impressed I ordered the CD. Obviously our local station picked the best song of the CD to play on air. The rest are just kind of blah; the arrangements seem kind of half-hearted and frankly, I'm sorry I spent the money.