1. Sea Changes
2. Of Foreign Lands and People (from Scenes From Childhood)
3. I Love the Way You’re Breaking My Heart
4. Idaho
5. Fleurette Africaine
6. Come Rain or Come Shine
7. Do It Again
8. Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away)
9. Climb Ev’ry Mountain
10. You’re the One I Think I Waited For
11. Sugar Sweet
12. Sentimental Journey
13. Wonder Why
14. Moonglow
15. A Sleepin’ Bee
16. Two Sleepy People
Nicki Parrott - Bass, vocals
Rossano Sportiello - Piano, vocals
In my review of this duo's first
album together, I commented on their "superb musicianship
as well as winning charm". This second album has the same qualities,
proving that this is a musical pairing made in heaven.
Looking at the list of tunes, I am impressed by the broad and adventurous
repertoire that Nicki and Rossano have assembled. It ranges from jazz
standards (Idaho, Liza, Moonglow) to little-known songs (I
Love the Way You're Breaking My Heart, Sugar Sweet), and from
an original by Nicki Parrott (You're the One I Think I Waited For)
to an adaptation of a classical piece (Of Foreign Lands and People
from Schumann's Kinderszenen).
Their empathy is clear from the very first number - Tommy Flanagan's
Sea Changes - where Nicki's double bass confidently underpins
Rossano's economical piano. Then the roles are reversed while Sportiello
adds discreet punctuation to Parrott's bass solo.
Rossano delicately states the theme of Schumann's Of Foreign Lands
and People before improvising on it in stride-jazz mode. I
Love the Way You're Breaking My Heart introduces the appealing
sound of Nicki's vocals, which are reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in
their voluptuous but ingenuous intimacy. Rossano's accompaniment is
perfection.
Idaho is taken at a breakneck tempo but both players cope
with apparent ease. Sportiello is sometimes pigeon-holed as a stride
pianist (and he includes some stride here) but he is a lot more than
that: he is a complete master of the piano. I am glad to encounter
Fleurette Africaine, a beautiful Duke Ellington composition
which deserves wider exposure. Come Rain or Come Shine is performed
much more frequently but Nicki's vocals create a shining rainbow.
The title-track returns us to the seductive side of Nicki's singing.
This versatile Australian is not only a fine bassist but also a better
vocalist than many of the female hopefuls currently contending for
jazz recognition. Rossano's relaxed but glittering solo fits like
a glove.
Sportiello whizzes joyfully through the Gershwins' Liza, apparently
unaccompanied by the double bass. Climb Ev'ry Mountain is restrained
and thoughtful, as it should be. Nicki performs her own song You're
the One I Think I Waited For in a little-girl voice that expresses
uncertainty - even naivety. But there's nothing naive about her delivery
in Sugar Sweet, a blues which has the touch of R & B about
it.
Nicki states the melody of Sentimental Journey with support
from Sportiello; then she solos on it tunefully before swapping fours
with the pianist. Rossano again seems to be unaccompanied in Wonder
Why, a tune from which he draws much emotion. Moonglow
is in danger of being hackneyed but the duo freshens it up with real
feeling.
A reviewer in a jazz magazine recently said that A Sleepin' Bee
was "rarely recorded" but it has actually been recorded
quite often. It's an unusual song (written by Truman Capote and Harold
Arlen for the 1954 musical House of Flowers) and may need explaining
that it refers to a superstition in Haiti that a woman will find true
love if a bee lands on her without stinging. However, no explanation
is needed for the wordless but luminous interpretation of the song
here.
Rossano Sportiello is far from being the world's greatest singer
but, as on their first CD together, he joins Nicki Parrott in a vocal
duet to close the album. Some subtle key-changes help to keep it within
Rossano's range. As far as I'm concerned, these two can do it all
again...and again.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Arbors Jazz ARCD 19387
