5 Singers You May Not Have Heard of but Might Want to Check Out by Bo Leibowitz
Bo Leibowitz, KCRW DJ.
The great American songbook has never had it so good. Given the Internet as virtual marketplace, there’s a flood of new, self-produced singers who no longer need to sign with a label in order to distribute their wares to a dwindling number of record stores. Not that the five singers listed below are unknowns, by any means, but perhaps less well known, in my opinion, than they should be.
GRETA MATASSA – Queen of the Pacific Northwest, husky voiced, Seattle-based Matassa (a Dakota Staton fan), has made a number of CD’s, none better than her latest, “I Wanna Be Loved” (Resonance Records).
ROBERTA GAMBARINI – The proverbial white Ella in the room — perfect diction, great range, scats and swings like crazy. Her most recent CD, a duet recording with legendary pianist Hank Jones, goes back a couple years, but she guests on four cuts with the just released Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band (Half Note Records).
GRACE KELLY – That’s right, you heard me. What’s more, she’s just released her fourth CD as a leader, “Mood Changes” (Pazz)…and she’s 16 years old! (For some reason, I’m reminded of the opening lines of Billie Holiday’s ghostwritten autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, something along the lines of: “Mom and Dad were 16 when they got married. I was three.”)
Now, in all truthiness, Ms. Kelly is a singer secondarily. Her primary voice is the alto saxophone (she plays tenor and flute as well), but she sings extremely well. It’s just that, as a remarkably mature saxophone soloist, she doesn’t necessarily sound 16; as a singer, it’s somewhat unavoidable (and a bit jarring at times when singing the world weary lyrics of, say, a Cole Porter or Lorenz Hart). But what a refreshing talent.
FRANK D’RONE – Talk about under the radar. After signing with Mercury in the late ’50′s (with Nat King Cole penning the liner notes to his debut LP) and appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Frank D’Rone faded from the scene. I’m happy to say, however that, as I write this, he is planning a rare West Coast appearance, having been based in Chicago these many years. A singer’s singer as well as a superb guitarist.
LORRAINE FEATHER – Maybe you do know her. A fine singer and gifted witticist (witty lyricist) who never ceases to amaze and amuse, Ms. Feather stands alongside Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg as commentators for the age in which we live.
