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YOU, ME AND COLE SHIMPEI OGAWA NOA LEVY |
BELLE RECORDS BEL-002 Musicians:
Noa Levy, vocals
Shimpei Ogawa, bass
1. I Get a Kick Out of You [2:56]
2. My Heart Belongs to Daddy [3:53]
3. Just One of Those Things [3:54]
4. What is This Thing Called Love? [5:20]
5. It’s Alright With Me [3:02]
6. So in Love [3:40]
7. Too Darn Hot [3:55]
8. Anything Goes [3:13]
9. Love for Sale [4:14]
10. In the Still of the Night [3:00]
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: [35:08]
Cole Porter (1891-1964) was an outstanding composer of popular music and very active during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in Peru, Indiana and educated at Harvard and Yale, and destined for a career in law before setting it aside for songwriting. Cole wrote his first musical in 1916 and began a string of Broadway hit musicals that lasted into the 1950’s. Noa Levy is an Israeli-born jazz singer based in San Francisco. Bassist Shimpei Ogawa is originally from Okazaki, Japan and also now lives and performs in the Bay area. Noa and Shimpei have combined their talents to create their first duet album, featuring ten selections from the Cole Porter songbook.
The earliest song in this set is What is This Thing Called Love? from the 1929 musical Wake Up and Dream. Cole once mentioned that he borrowed the tune’s haunting melody from a native dance he heard in Marrakesh. Noa has a smooth alto voice and a playful, expressive singing style, and uses them to good effect and swings through this song, accompanied by a jazzy walking bass line. The latest song on the album isIt’s Alright With Me (original version is two words All Right) from the 1953 musical Can-Can. Originally written as a slow torch song, the 72-bar melody has been transformed by generations of jazz singers into an up-tempo standard, and the duo follows suit with an excellent arrangement. Shimpei is a very intuitive bass player and has a natural instinct and feel for how a bass should accompany a singer. His fine musicianship is apparent on these numbers, always creative and nicely complementing Noa’s vocals.
Cole wrote My Heart Belongs to Daddy for the 1938 musical Leave It to Me!, where it was first sung on-stage by a young Mary Martin. Noa flirts with the edgy Yiddish melody while Shimpei provides an intriguing musical counterbalance by plucking and bowing a slow tango rhythm. The 1948 musical Kiss Me Kate featured two songs in this set; Two Darn Hot, and the charming ballad So In Love, which Noa gently sings while Shimpei softly plucks a continuous series of arpeggios on bass. The songs Anything Goes and I Get a Kick Out of You both appeared in the 1934 musical Anything Goes starring Ethel Merman. Both tunes get a Noa-Shimpei makeover with scat verses and inventive timing.
This music was recorded and mixed by Dan Feiszli, www.studiorhythm.com, El Cerrito, CA.
All of the songs were arranged by Shimpei Ogawa and Noa Levy.
The disc comes in a cardboard folder. No booklet is included. The sound quality is excellent.
Bruce McCollum