"The Sound of Love" by Vocalist Tania Grubbs

"The Sound of Love is an intimate and fulfilling journey into Tania’s sensibility and versatility as a storyteller. Every song draws you deeper into the story, delivered with engaging arrangements. Each member of the band displays a subtle virtuosity where you feel each phrase and every note has a purpose."

--Marty Ashby (MCG JAZZ/Manchester Craftsman’s Guild)

Vocalist TANIA GRUBBS crafts stories out of well-chosen songs with love and care and lets the listener feel the spirit behind each note. Her voice is an integral instrument in a quintet of equals, a guiding thread that weaves everyone together whether singing a warm, engaging note, a challenging phrase, an especially stirring arrangement, a soulful turn, or hopeful sentiment.

THE SOUND OF LOVE by the TANIA GRUBBS QUINTET, their second offering after 2020’s Live at Maureen’s, is a carefully curated selection of songs including standards, lesser-heard jazz tunes, and some original material -- all presented in a manner that sounds like a live performance. Contemporary Fusion Reviews said about Live at Maureen’s, “I can tell you right now, you haven’t heard jazz vocals this exciting in a long, LONG time.”

The stellar quintet seemingly reads each other’s intent in building sounds. This is songcraft at its finest -- even more impressive is that the entire album was recorded in a day. The band, who all have ties to Pittsburgh, includes pianist DAVID BUDWAY (Branford Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Hubert Laws), bassist JEFF GRUBBS (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Kenny Burrell, Joe Williams), guitarist RON AFFIF (Kenny Kirkland, Roy Hargrove, Jeff “Tain” Watts), and drummer JAMES JOHNSON III (Kenny Garrett, Benny Golson, Ahmad Jamal).

Tania opens the album with “But Not For Me.” The song begins with a vocal/drum duet and features some playful rhythmic interplay between Tania and Johnson. The band does a funkier version of “Slow Hot Wind” in a contemporary take on Henry Mancini’s classic.

Tania and the band put an original spin on the Earl Klugh/Al Jarreau song, “(A Rhyme) This Time.” Tania wanted to flip the form and use the intro as a coda and change the time signature of the A section to 7/8. Tania says, “I think “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” is just one of the most beautiful melodies ever written by Charles Mingus, or any composer, for that matter.” A challenging song to sing, Tania navigates its wide interval leaps with precision and beautiful phrasing.

Tania and Jeff originally arranged Dave & Iola Brubeck’s “Strange Meadowlark” as a duet for voice and bass; however, they expanded the arrangement for quartet for the recording. They put their own imprimatur on the tune by changing the time signature to a jazz waltz that modulates to a medium 4/4 swing at the bridge and then modulates back to the waltz at the end. “The Sculptor’s Hands,” an original by Tania, was inspired by Internationally acclaimed Pittsburgh-based wood sculptor/jazz lover Thaddeus Mosley.

Led by Tania’s silky voice, the trio performs a haunting rendition of “Something to Live For,” written by Pittsburgh native Billy Strayhorn. Tania’s delivery is so elegant that adding a solo would have only broken the mood. Tania and Jeff put their unique spin on a song with their arrangement of the Lennon/McCartney classic “Blackbird,” using what they call “quasi-Baião (northern Brazil)” rhythms. Jeff’s reharmonized arrangement of John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” turns the simplistic tune into a musical meditation which sends the listener on a peaceful journey.

“I Can Tell You Are Always There,” by Budway and Pittsburgher Lou Tracy, has a haunting melody with deeply moving lyrics that show Tania’s vocal range. Tania and Jeff open Miles Davis’ “Four” with a voice/bass soli before the band hits the ground running. They give Henry Mancini’s “Dreamsville” a bolero/bossa feel, creating a dreamy landscape for Tania’s smooth tone and Jeff’s virtuosic bass solo.

Tania closes the album with two tunes, “If You Could See Me Now,” the iconic Tadd Dameron classic that Tania sings with subtle but heart-wrenching longing, and “Two For The Road,” a duet with Tania and Budway. The spontaneous decision to record this song was like magic. One take. As a result, the heartfelt and intimate rendering of the song makes for a perfect closer.

Tania, who originally hails from Ohio, has been singing all her life in many different settings and genres. She began learning about jazz and the Great American Songbook while attending Youngstown State University, Dana School of Music. Her husband, Jeff, also attended the Dana School of Music, but the two met at a gig. Jeff’s orchestral work took the couple to Fort Lauderdale, where Tania fostered her career by singing in jazz clubs and performing in numerous concert settings and theatre productions. She was a featured vocalist with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Voices of the Boca Pops Orchestra. In 1996, the couple then moved to Pittsburgh when Jeff obtained a position with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  

Since living in Pittsburgh, Tania has been a four-time recipient of the Ready for Life Grants, founded by the Heinz Foundation. She has also been a featured vocalist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Civic Light Opera, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Jazz, Pittsburgh Jazz Society, Westmoreland Jazz Society, West Virginia Jazz Society, WD Packard Big Band and Concert Band, and Pittsburgh Bass Symposium. She was featured as a guest soloist with the Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia and acted as Co-Music Director at the Fairmont Pittsburgh Hotel, overseeing Jazz at Andy’s for over 10 years. Tania’s voice has an effortless quality that plumbs the emotional depth of the lyrics with an appealing honesty.

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THE SOUND OF LOVE is available today, October 4, 2024, and is now available at Bandcamp and on all streaming platforms. Physical CDs are available at Taniagrubbs.com

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Taniagrubbsquintet.bandcamp.com/album/the-sound-of-love

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