Reeves

Gentleman Jim Reeves was perhaps the biggest male star to emerge from the Nashville sound. His mellow baritone voice and muted velvet orchestration combined to create a sound that echoed around his world and has lasted to this day. Detractors will call the sound country-pop (or plain pop), but none can argue against the large audience that loves this music. Reeves was capable of singing hard country ("Mexican Joe" went to number one in 1953), but he made his greatest impact as a country-pop crooner. From 1955 through 1969, Reeves was consistently in the country and pop charts – an amazing fact in light of his untimely death in an airplane accident in 1964. Not only was he a presence in the American charts, but he became country music's foremost international ambassador and, if anything, was even more popular in Europe and Britain than in his native America.

Dianne Reeves represents a multitude of styles and approaches, ranging from pop to R&B to straight jazz. The Best of Dianne Reeves provides the listener with a generous collection that emphasizes these opposites. "Better Days" from Dianne Reeves, along with "You Taught My Heart to Sing" and the title cut from I Remember, are light and pretty, emphasizing her ability as a ballad singer. Much more interesting are "Endangered Species" and "Old Souls" from Art & Survival. Backed by infectious rhythms, textured arrangements, and heavy grooves, Reeves unleashes her dynamic vocals bolstered by chants, outbursts, and hymns. Two cuts allow the listener to compare Reeves to other notable singers. "River" from In the Moment offers a soulful, quiet take on Joni Mitchell's classic, while "Lullaby of Birdland," complete with big band backing, succeeds in offering a likable rendition of a Sarah Vaughan favorite…

Throughout her career, Dianne Reeves has, perhaps more than any other vocalist, blurred the line that separates jazz from pop and contemporary R&B, extending the boundaries of each. Beautiful Life is her first recording in five years and her debut for Concord. Carefully produced by Terri Lynne Carrington, the musical cast includes Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Reginald Veal, Sheila E., Sean Jones, , Gregory Porter, Gerald Clayton, Richard Bona, Lalah Hathaway, and her late cousin George Duke. The opener is a thoroughly inventive Carrington arrangement of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You," which underscores the gossamer quality in Reeves' voice and jazz phrasing, sacrificing none of the original's seductive soul - it's as much of the spirit as it is of the flesh - and features a fine trumpet solo by Jones. A brilliant reading of Stevie Nicks' "Dreams" is introduced by Terreon Gully's tight…

It doesn't happen often enough, but every once in a while a new jazz singer will emerge with all of the classic elements associated with the genre: stellar phrasing, authentic emotion, tasteful inflection, and expertise at selecting appropriate material. Such elements are on hand for Dianne Reeves' self-titled 1987 debut.