Well, Alright! [CD]

Nancy Kelly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Label: Saying It With Jazz
• ASIN: B00244MOG8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,176 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

11 track, 2009 release on the Saying It With Jazz label. Nancy Kelly - vocal; Houston Person - tenor saxophone; Randy Halberstadt - piano; Jeff Johnson - bass; Gary Hobbs - drums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Rockin', Boppin' and Finger Poppin'!, July 20, 2011

By 

Gary L. Connely (Hercules, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Well, Alright! (Audio CD)

"Well, Alright!" is jazz singer Nancy Kelly's forth album. Released in 2009, it was recorded live at Bake's Place, the premier jazz club in Issaquah, WA, (well, alright - to coin a term - Bake's is the ONLY jazz club in Issaquah, a small town east of Seattle).

Nancy Kelly has a slightly brassy, sharp-edged contralto voice - when she pushes it, she gets a little growl in her low notes and her highs are sweet and clean. She phrases well and articulates precisely. She has a great sense of rhythm and she swings effortlessly. She's twice been named "Best Female Jazz Vocalist" in Down Beat magazine's yearly readers' poll and her albums have charted in Billboard. She's a dynamic performer and "Well, Alright!" catches her at her best.

"Well Alright!" is a set of eleven songs, most of them standards like: "But Not For Me," "Who Can I Turn To," "I Only Have Love for You," "Let's Fall in Love," and of course, "Alright, Okay, You Win," (which for me is forever the "property" of Helen Humes, but I like Ms Kelly's lilting, playful version as well). It also includes an almost seven minute long version of "Let It Be Me," (there's a lot of Aretha Franklin in Ms Kelly's gospelish rendition of this song - I think singers are always on dangerous ground when they start to sound a little like Ms Franklin - she's an awfully tough act to follow - but Ms Kelly holds her own).

The band is excellent: whether they are playing as a unit or soloing, pianist Randy Halberstadt, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer Gary Hobbs are tight and solid. Oh yeah, I almost forgot tenor saxman Houston Person - Mr Person is simply one of the best players on the face of the planet - and after his more than 30 years playing with Etta Jones, (the best jazz singer that nobody had ever heard of - and when they had heard of her, they thought she was Etta James), Mr Person is one of the few saxophonists who actually knows how to accompany a singer. Ms Kelly's voice and Mr Person's horn blend almost seamlessly.

The sonics.... Well, the sonics could be better.... Ms Kelly's voice is clear, front and center, and Mr Person's horn is closely miked. But the rest of the band is further down in the mix than I like - in particular I'd like to hear more of Mr Halberstadt's piano - but what the heck, it's a live album and Ms Kelly's on-stage energy comes through....

Bottom Line: The audience at Bake's Place had a great time the night "Well, Alright!" was recorded - and so will you when you pop it into your CD player.