Vanessa Racci
Jazzy Italian
Birdland, NYC, October 13, 2019
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg for Cabaret Scenes
A gracious presence on the stage and beautifully dressed as for a 1950s cocktail party, Vanessa Racci traced the contributions of Italian-Americans to jazz, a much more extensive history than a casual observer might think, dating back to 1917 and continuing to today. Her information is often surprising, always interesting, and reminiscent of the best of Andrea Marcovicci’s shows. She brings along a lovely voice, a fine sense of rhythm, a gracefulness evidenced in her dancing across the stage and even in moving a mic stand, and a genuine appreciation of the music and her musicians.
Racci’s vocal technique is flexible, swinging happily on “At the Jazz Band Ball” (Nick LaRocca & Larry Shields, lyric by Johnny Mercer), delivering a vocal version of the very first jazz recording, “Livery Stable Blues” (1917), and torching movingly on “A Sunday Kind of Love.” Other melodies that popped up during the evening were “Coquette,” “Volare,” and “You Made Me Love You.” A problem arose in the singer’s failure to emotionally connect with many of the songs she chose. Her patter was delightful and humorous, but she failed to deliver the implicit comedy in “Tu Vuo Fe L’Amricano” or the soaring spirits of “Volare.” She fared better with ballads, finding real empathy with “I’m a Fool to Want You” and “A Lifetime of Two” (a part of a moving tribute to the Pizzarelli family).
The singer certainly enjoyed her band as she watched the instrumental sections of the arrangements, mostly by her pianist/music director Glafkos Kontemeniotis. Andrew Gould (tenor sax) and Max Darche (trumpet), both shone in their solos. Bassist Marcus McLaurine and drummer Kenny Hassler also added to the enjoyment of a musically pleasing but less than dramatically satisfying evening.
