Matti P
The American singer and pianist DIANE SCHUUR (b. 1953) *sure* sounds as uplifting and charming as she looks. Blind from the birth, she took her first steps as a musician at the age of three, and when she was ten she debuted on stage at the local Holday Inn. I'm not familiar with her earliest albums from 1985 onwards; Schuur Fire was the other of the two newer albums I borrowed from library years ago, and I was immediately charmed by her. Here she's accompanied by The Caribbean Jazz Project led by vibes player Dave Samuels. A perfect match!
'Lover, Come Back to Me' (composed by Oscar Hammerstein II) shows straight away the merry and dance-inviting Latin groove at its best, and Diane demonstrates her flexible vocal skills that IMHO are fully comparable to the great Ella Fitzgerald. James Taylor's 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight' turns into a jazz ballad with natural ease. Diane Schuur is known for her habit of picking songs from pop music. Don Gibson's country ballad 'I Can't Stop Loving You' was given a charming samba treatment, and the Latin dance version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' works brilliantly.
The song I was originally most gladly surprised by, comes -- of all bands -- from Duran Duran. My relationship with that band is more or less limited to digging Rio (1982) at my early teens -- and why not still --, but 'Ordinary World' happens to be my fave of the few further DD songs I remember. I may actually prefer the original for the mood, but Schuur's jazzy uptempo version has its own charm.
This well produced album is very easy to enjoy if you're at all into vocal jazz and Latin jazz. If you're looking for music to make you happy and carefree, try this.