Denise Milani

The ‘grande dame of the guitar’ remembered through a new recording of her own music.

The ‘grande dame of the guitar’ remembered through a new recording of her own music.

Chicago based singer-songwriter Denise La Grassa continues her inspiring musical journey with the release of "The Flame." This powerful album is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit - attributes that embody her own 'North of 40' journey, itself ignited by the closing of Lincoln College in Central IL. “I was heading into my 6th year of transforming the former jazz studies program into one with more practical music production and business degrees. The closing was a shock to everyone as the college had been around for 157 years,” said La Grassa. “It was then I decided I was going to follow my own dream by focusing full-time on songwriting and performance.”

The Burt Bacharach canon has always been fertile ground for artists of all kinds to explore. Stan Getz devoted an entire album to his fare. The big Bacharach hits are branded deep in the cultural psyche. Thus, the challenge that Grammy-nominated vocalist Denise Donatelli and producer Larry Klein have here is how to use a different ladle to invite you to imbibe from their recipe for Bacharach's musical champagne.