Alyssa Allgood Comes 'Out of the Blue' on Stunning Vocalese Project, JeruJazz Records [REVIEW]

There are jazz singers and then there are real jazz singers. Alyssa Allgood is one of the real ones. On her Out of the Blue debut (JeruJazz Records), the Chicago native proves why. Growing up as she did with stacks of classic jazz on the Blue Note label, she has fashioned a tribute of sorts to pioneering sounds that propelled the music forward. This means she scat-sings some of the exact solos of her sax heroes. Plus, she's written new lyrics for legendary sides.

Sax man Hank Mobley [1930-1986] wrote "Dig Dis" in 1960 for his Soul Station album. Allgood opens with her rewrite called "Watch Me Walk Away" wherein she not only asserts her independence from a mean mistreater but sings Mobley's iconic solo for that song note-for-note.

Philadelphia drummer Joe Chambers wrote "Mirrors" as the title tune of his 1998 album. Allgood not only changed the tempo to a more complex 7/4 but wrote lyrics of female empowerment to go with it.

Sax man Joe Henderson [1937-2001] wrote "If" for organist Larry Young's Unity album. Allgood sings with no lyrics per se but with an elegant jazz sophistication that befits this pioneering 1965 effort.

Even when she sings a standard from "The Great American Songbook" like "It's You or No One" by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, she sings it the way the legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon recorded it, going so far as to approximate Dexter's percussion discussion with drummer Alex Riel with her own drummer Matt Plaskota. Mention must also be made of Dan Chase (organ), Tim Fitzgerald (guitar) and Chris Madsen (sax).

Having attended the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp every summer for eight years since she was 12 years old, she's learned her lessons well.

TagsAlyssa Allgood, JeruJazz Records, REVIEW, Blue Note Records