Aimee Nolte – Looking For The Answers

Aimee Nolte’s voice is beautiful, sonorous and reflective on her latest album Looking For The Answers, The singer arranged and produced every track on the album, lending a consistent aesthetic and laid-back vibe to most of the cuts here. What separates Nolte from other vocalists and composers is the poetry and storytelling quality of her compositions, with lyrics reminescent of Joni Mitchell – just minus Mitchell playfulness. “Save Me One Last Time” speaks to the bandleadeader’s seriousness as a lyricists when the theme of lost love is addressed: “If I keep on falling, I’ll be lost forever/ Save me one last time.”Nolte exhibits her jazz chops on “Bye Bye Blackbird”, when she pleasantly scats as John Clayton accopanies her on bass. Despite instrumentalists coming and going track to track, Looking For The Answers is pretty even-keeled listen. Dough Webb and John Reilly on woodwinds round out “The Loveliest Girl” and “Save Me One Last Time,” respectively. And drummmer James Yoshizawa delivers throughout the recording with a soft, but steady, attention to mantaining the rhytm, making his performances incospicuos, until the listener realizes that his reliability helps drive the entire album. “For A While” closes things out with Nolte on piano, sans vocals, letting listeners take in the bandleader’s full abilities at the keyboard while she paints a chromatic ballad that’s sure to delight. – Michele L. Simms-Burton (Downbeat)  ...

Laura Martier

“Intersection” the debut release from VSOJAZ Records. Laura Martier For the vocalist, who makes her home on North Carolina’s sandy Outer Banks, the album proved to be an ideal calling card, earning her new fans and the opportunity to perform regularly throughout the Outer Banks and Southeastern and Central Virginia. Growing up in a musical household in rural Wisconsin, she’s performed everything from funk to folk over the years. It was precisely this varied musical background that made Laura such a natural for “Intersection”. Drawing from a rich tapestry of musical influences, she effortlessly blends them into the straight-ahead jazz setting of these sessions, carefully maintaining the integrity of the lyrics, yet redefining the songs as the best jazz singers always do. John Toomey is currently University Professor of Music at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Previously music director and keyboardist for Maynard Ferguson, John current appears with jazz vocalists Rene Marie and Mark Murphy, as well as The Uptown Jazz Vocal Quartet. Recent releases include “Smile” with vocalist Lisanne Lyons and “Refraction” featuring original composition and performed by The John Toomey Trio. Jimmy Masters had been playing bass for over 30 years. While 20 of those years have been devoted primarily to jazz, his playing experiences include rock, acoustic, and country music as well. In addition to performing with jazz giants like Chuck Mangione, Mark Murphy, Clark Terry, and Kurt Elling, Jimmy has also served as the producer of several well received jazz recordings including “Jazz For Hope” and “Co-Op Venture”. 1. A Swallow Song (Richard Farina) 4:45 2. Harpo’s Blues (Pheobe Snow) 5:48 3. Summer’s Coming Around Again 3:53 (Carly Simon,Jim Ryan, & Paul Glanz) 4. Undun (Randy Bachman) 5:22 5. My Back Pages (Bob Dylan) 5:37 6. The Love’s Still Growing (Buzzy Linhart) 4:38 7. Didn’t Want To Have To Do It (John Sebastian) 5:15...