Artist: Sue Tucker Title Of Album: Meant for You Year Of Release: 2000 Label: Sue Tucker Genre: Jazz / Vocal Jazz Quality: Mp3 Bitrate: 320kbps / 44.1kHz / Joint-Stereo Total Time: 49:04 min Total Size: 111 MB Tracklist ---------- 01. A Foggy Day 02. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To 03. Sugar 04. Easy Street 05. I've Got The World On A String 06. The Very Thought Of You 07. Too Close For Comfort 08. Undecided 09. Blame It On My Youth 10. Waltz For Debbie 11. Meant For You Sue Tucker is one of batch of modern-day singers who avoid vocal histrionics and instead have adopted an unembellished, straightforward approach to delivering the tunes they sing. There's no scatting or swooping associated with their performances. They rely on fresh arrangements of standard material, and are absolute masters of knowing how to accent their best points by using sidemen to greatest advantage. Tucker had a head start coming from a musical family. Not a family that just loves music, but that is active in jazz. Her father, Jack Oatts, was a jazz educator, and her brothers, Jim Oatts and Dick Oatts, are professional trumpet and sax players, respectively. Early training on the clarinet and sax left her with a greater awareness of the importance of understanding the instrumental mindset within a vocal context. With this solid musical grounding, on her self-produced maiden album she successfully examines a variety of vocal styles and deliveries. Some cuts have a jam-session feel with vocalist added, like a bouncy "Too Close for Comfort," where multi-reedist Doug Haining's alto trades statements with Rick Carlson's piano and Brett Forberg's drums lay down an unswerving solid beat topped off with a clever coda by Steve Pikal's bass. Tucker becomes a torch singer with blues undertones on "Sugar," which is moved along by a raunchy Haining baritone sax. On an up-tempo "A Foggy Day," Tucker shows her creativity as she plays around with the melody line. It works because of support from brother Jim Oatts, jazzy piano by Carlson, and perfectly timed drum breaks by Forberg. This is an awesome arrangement of a major entry in the Great American Songbook. Complete relaxation characterizes "Easy Street" to the point of sensual lethargy. A highlight track is Bill Evans/Gee Lees' "Waltz for Debbie," which Tucker really does in 3/4 time. Kent Saunders' guitar provides the bistro atmosphere for a tender "Blame It on My Youth." So it is, one track after another. Unembellished, no frills, straight-from-the-heart singing by a fine addition to the vocalist sorority. ~ Dave Nathan An extraordinary jazz vocalist, Sue Tucker comes from a family of known jazz musicians. Turbobit: Rapidgator: