Critically acclaimed
jazz
vocalist
Kitty Margolis
returns to her roots with
Heart & Soul: Live in San Francisco
in celebration of the 15th anniversary of
Mad-Kat
, the record label she co-founded with fellow San Francisco Bay Area vocalist
Madeline Eastman
.
Margolis
' voice is filled with the allied influences of such great
vocalists as
Sarah Vaughan
,
Ella Fitzgerald
, and
Betty Carter
, but
Kitty
has marvelously achieved a certain balance of structure and soulful improvisation that expresses her own life and times. Her arrangements of the
standards
heard here are both versatile and ripe with assurance and provide ample room for her to swing hard with innovative vocal gymnastics or to reflect with quiet contemplation. Her sense of humor has also enamored her to audiences around the globe. On the opener,
"Love Walked In,"
is in full stride, humorous, and immediately takes command of her audience. She involves them with her classic repartee prior to launching into her stinging arrangement of
"A Sleepin' Bee."
She continues the
standard
and is swinging hard on
"Summertime,"
bopping and scatting on this scorching interpretation she co-arranged with
Joyce Cooling
. Prominent mention goes to pianist
Michael Bluestein
, who brilliantly captures the mindset and glorious shades of
' remarkable voice -- be it her rendering of
"Heart and Soul"
as a heavy romantic
ballad
or comping her innovative reworking of
"My Favorite Things"
as an up-tempo swinger with elongated phrasings, amazing improvised
vocalese
, and brilliant restrained fire. They end the set with a lovely piano/vocal duet they co-arranged titled
"While We're Young,"
and leave you, the listener, with an amazing sensitivity of what that night in San Francisco must have been like.
is truly adept and remains in the front ranks of
interpreters. She commands instant attention to every word she sings on
and is quite, quite glorious. ~ Paula Edelstein