The Rebecca Kilgore Trio Vol. 1
(A Heavywood Recording)
April 12, 2021
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
![](https://cabaretscenes.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Rebecca-Kilgore-Trio-asa-cabaret-scenes-magazine.jpg)
Rebecca Kilgore has an urbane approach to jazz. Her vocals manage to be both light and plummy. Phrasing is supple, affectation free; instrumentals are eloquent. The material is eclectic.
“Day In, Day Out” (Rube Bloom/Johnny Mercer) arrives up-tempo,
bobbing-bass driven. Kilgore sings with a smile in her voice. “Somebody Just
like You” (Dan Davis/Meredith D’Ambrosio) is savory and earthy. An understated
bass and cornet buoy the tune. The piano adds sybaritic flourishes.
In “Run Little Raindrop, Run” (Mack Gordon/Harry Warren) phrases emerge, rise and dip down in arcs. Her delivery is bright and chipper. “I’ve got a date with a place in the sun/So run little raindrop run.” The piano slips/slides; scat is soft and swirly.
“Azure” (Don Wolfe/Bill Davis/Duke Ellington/Irving Mills) enters with a resigned shrug. “Gone and got the blues in Paris/How can I be blue in Paris?/Easy cause you’re far away.” “Doos doos” are shadowed by vocal echo. Lyrical naturalism pervades. “Talking to Myself About You” (Axel Stordahl/Paul Weston/Irving Taylor; verse by Rebecca Kilgore) has a delicate, laid-back timbre. The piano sighs arpeggios.
“I Wanna Get Married” (Nellie Marie McKay) is a plaintive throwback to 1950s wishes, a cozy tune that’s resolute but light handed. Piano muses. “Like the Brightest Star” (Harry Allen/Greg Oppenheimer) is fizzy and declarative with playful scat. “That Sunday That Summer” (George David Weiss/Joe Sherman) offers phrases that swing like hammocks. The vocal is whispery and intoxicating. Her interpretation of “The Gentleman Is a Dope” (Richard Rodgers/ Oscar Hammerstein II) is tart and skittish. There’s not a jot of the maudlin.
To my mind, the only song that doesn’t work is “Because We’re Kids” (Doctor Seuss/ Frederick Hollander) whose juxtaposition of elevated jazz and simple children’s thoughts doesn’t sync.
“There’s a Small Hotel” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart) is performed with relish. Bass noodles along with a wink. The vocal is happy-go-lucky and lustrous.
Randy Porter is on piano, Tom Wakeling on bass, and Dick Titterton on cornet.