1. If This Could Be Love
2. Don't Turn Around
3. You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break
My Heart)
4. A Day In Paradise
5. Never Think That I Don't Really Care
6. Tell Me It's Just A Bad Dream
7. Sunday In New York
8. If This Is Love
9. It's All 'Cause Of Loving You
10. When I See That Look In Your Eyes
11. Mean To Me.
Toscha Comeaux, Sisaundra Lewis-Reid, Chet Samuel,
Meka King - Vocals Rohan Reid, Doug Mathews
- Bass
Harvey Marshall, Walt Hubbard - Drums
Tony Hemmings, Ed Krout, Richard Drexler - Keyboards
(organ, Fender Rhodes, piano)
Rohan Reid, Paulo Carvalho, Ivo Carvalho, Paul
Buzin, Jay Owens - Guitars Orlando Sanchez,
Aaron Gandia - Percussion
Philip Martin, Alain Bradette, Brian Snapp,
Phillip Martin - Saxophones
Tom Parmerter - Flugelhorn, trumpet
Brian Scanlon, Steve Walters, Don Rogozinski
- Trumpets
Pat Gullotta, Guillermo Hewitt - Trombones
Christian Tamburr - Vibes
I have become so sceptical
about new "jazz" vocalists that it sounds
almost heretical for me actually to welcome
a new one. But Toscha Comeaux is someone who
sings in tune and with feeling. She is not
exclusively a jazz singer, as her style and
repertoire embraces a variety of areas. The
nearest reference point is Lizz Wright - in
fact, Toscha sounds remarkably like Lizz on
such tracks as the first two here. So, as
with Lizz Wright, you might call her a soul-jazz
or jazz-soul vocalist. Whatever the categorisation,
this is an assured debut album.
Like many of the best American
vocalists, Toscha started singing in church,
but she later did formal training at several
colleges. Her vocals often have the vibrancy
and passion of church choirs. Tell Me It's
Just a Bad Dream is like a secular version
of a heartfelt sacred song.
Perhaps the best way to judge
a jazz vocalist is when they sing standard
songs, although there are only two here: Bacharach
& David's You'll Never Get to Heaven
and Turk & Ahlert's Mean To Me.
On both songs Toscha swings convincingly,
and the latter has a high-flying trumpet solo
from Don Rogozinski. You might think that
Sunday in New York is a jazz standard,
but I think that's a different song from the
one here - which, like most tunes on the CD,
was written by Peter Yates. Whatever the truth,
it still swings along nicely.
Other tracks emphasise other
aspects of Toscha's talents. A Day in Paradise
mingles a reggae rhythm with a soulful delivery.
Never Think I Don't Really Care has
an alto sax punctuating and soloing just like
Dave Sanborn, although it is actually played
by Philip Martin. The backing for If This
Is Love sounds like a big band but, here
and elsewhere, the arrangements are judicious
and don't swamp the singer. And It's All
'Cause of Loving You is a subtle jazz
waltz, refreshed by Christian Tamburr's vibes
solo.
On the evidence of this first
album, Toscha Comeaux is a name to conjure
with - although her name already looks like
an anagram! She is on tour in the UK so, if
you get a chance to hear her in person, seize
it.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Zenith ZJCD 001
