This Is Book's Music

Schnazzing it up is what jazz singers love to do, whether it’s for their own music or for the songs they choose to cover. Kelley Suttenfield is a schnazzer but a good schnazzer, and what I mean is she likes to cuddle the songs with her own groove, but still being subtle enough to where she doesn’t take it overboard into loon land. Where Is Love? (Rhombus) is an album by someone who loves to sing, loves the song she sings, and has the willingness to share her talents with the world.

The songs are well chosen, with songs like eden ahbez‘s “Nature Boy”, Bobbie Gentry‘s “Ode To Billie Joe”, and The Beatles‘ “And I Love Her” being a part of the album’s repertoire. Her take of “Twilight Time”, made famous by The Platters, may be the song that takes her out of jazz circles and into a broader audience, as it has a touch that could uplift her to bigger levels of success. That’s not to say the other material is less worthy, but “Twilight Time” is an R&B and rock’n'roll standard that she brings into her own scope, and it’s a perfect marriage of someone with a soothing voice and sentiment. The bond is… I wanted to say incredible but a word like that tends to bring expectations. I say just listen and tell me you don’t hear the perfect marriage of something effectively working.