Customer Reviews

Play It Cool

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

About a year ago my partner and I attended a Lea Delaria concert in Seattle. We expected it to be a concert in the comedy sense, for we only knew Lea for her outrageous comedy routines. While we received a healthy dose of that, we were just stunned when she introduced her jazz band and began belting out the tunes. She has an amazing voice. Classic Jazz, showtunes, this lady can sing and swing. And she can scat with the best of them.

At the end of the concert, she mentioned that she had a record coming out in 2001. I was on the waiting list as soon as it appeared for preorder on Amazon. I was not disappointed.

I first found out Lea could sing when I saw here in _On The Town_ in Central Park. Her rendition of "I Can Cook, Too" made me an instant fan, as did her version of "Blue Skies" in the movie _Edge of Seventeen_. After having the pleasure of seeing her act at Joe's Pub in NYC, I was waiting and hoping for her to cut a cd.

And here it is. I love her version of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"--she does a great job of jazzing it up. And her version of "Losing My Mind" is soulful and rich.

Lea has a great voice and I am really enjoying this cd. It's great music to have on for company or dinner parties or while simply hanging out.

She may be a bull ... in a china shop, but Lea's voice is as smooth as the peach fuzz on her chin. She masters the vocal subtleties of jazz, and yet she can belt it out when she needs to. On this CD, Lea gives us some wonderful and unique interpretations of a varied collection of Broadway tunes. Her take on "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is unlike any you've ever heard before.

This is a smashing CD! SO fine! Sandra Bernhardt says DeLaria is "the best singer in the world", and by the end of this disc, one is rendered incapable of resisting such a laden declaration! Opening with a straight ahead version of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", DeLaria immediately opens up her box of MUSICAL gifts. Everything is within her high View, Everything's been seen to, Everything is New and Right, and on top of that, she turns Larry Goldings loose on piano! Potent stuff! DeLaria follows with a post-hip "Cool," and a galvanizingly other-worldly "With Every Breath I Take". Listen: Lea Delaria's got Intelligence -the Bright and Mystic kind!- and MUSICIANSHIP as deep and riveting as it comes. The Voice? Glory in spades, people! It's the real thing! In the end, though, it's the purest musicianship of this woman, and of the artists she has with her here, that makes this disc so Inevitable, and unforgettable. That, and the incredible entry she makes after the instrumental break on "Welcome To My Party" - !!! Who knows what makes a singer great, or why and how such extraordinary gifts come along, redeeming us? This disc goes a long classic cool way in offering evidence as to why Lea DeLaria is 'happening' right now! Fly, Lea, fly baby!! This is just the best music.

Listening to a local PBS jazz station here in NJ, I was entranced upon hearing Ms. DeLaria's rendition of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd". I did not get out of my car until the deejay came back on the air to announce the artist. When I got to my office, I then surfed on over to Amazon.com to hear more of her music. I have always loved jazz, but lately put it on the back burner, as blues have become my passion of the moment. I was just as pleased with the other offerings on Lea's "Play it Cool" CD and if you have any kind of a listening for smoky, sultry, jazz - this is your ticket to music heaven!

Finally, an entire disc of Lea DeLaria's dulcet tones. She has an incredible voice, and her renditions of some famous and other not-so-famous Broadway songs are reminiscent of the style of Ella Fitzgerald. Her humor, subdued from her stage persona, is evident in several selections. Listeners to this recording have Ms. Delaria's number -- she is an extraordinary "torch singer".

The first time I heard Lea sing was on the Rosie Show and she knocked my socks off. I then began to hear her played on WBGO the PBS jazz station in Jersey and ran right out and bought the album Play it Cool. Lea sings and swings like Ella, June Christy, Chris Conners and the rest of the swinging ladies of the 40'and 50's. With her powerful voice she has filled a void in the world of female jazz singers and I can only say, Sing on Lea, I hear you. This is a great album. I hope she does a lot more.

I'm not really a jazz fan but decided to catch Lea Delaria's show here in DC promoting this new CD. Boy, what a surprise! She was great! I then bought the CD and it was even better. Her voice is very smooth & strong. If you are new to jazz like me, give this a try--you won't be sorry.

I popped this CD into the car stereo and was so entranced by "The Ballad of Sweeny Todd", I couldn't put the car in gear and leave!

I bought the CD because I loved Ms. Delaria's rendition of "Broadway Baby" on a Sondheim CD. I was floored by her ease with the smoky cabaret style jazz on this album.

If you can picture yourself sitting in a quiet, out of the way bar, listening to a hot trio and girl singer, this is a must-have.

Lea Delaria is a brilliant and legitimate jazz vocalist. By "legitimate" I mean she's really a jazz singer, not a pop crooner doing jazz standards like the overrated, overexposed, and totally boring Diana Krall. Lea knows how to make her voice sound like a clarinet: straight, perfectly in-tune tones, legato lines. She can make her tone smile and smirk and snarl. She's the real deal.

Unfortunately I think many people associate her with some not-so-great-in-retrospect comedy, TV, and film performances she did in the 90s, playing a self-parodying self-described "bulldyke in a china store." Well, she's so much more than that.

The repertoire choices, the arrangements, and the ensemble's performances are sophisticated and first-rate.

Several years ago I got to hear Lea live in a San Francisco nightclub. She was absolutely in command from the first minute to the last. Everything was perfect. Too bad the audience wasn't larger--I was really surprised and disappointed by that. I've wanted to do everything I could to promote her ever since.