Intimate Conversations

Do you want to hear what a vocalist is supposed to sound like? Give this lady a try! Daughter of a minister, Dee Daniels gives a Spirit filled album where she is teamed with (mostly) one other musician on a Decalogue of tunes, ranging from Depression era Tin Pan Alley to R&B with some Baby Boomer tunes thrown in for a complete meghilla of cozy conversations. She pairs up with some of the best: Cyrus Chestnut/p, himself a worship leader at his church, teams up for a recitative take of "Come Try My Love," while Wycliffe Gordon, also an MK, brings his trombone down the aisle for an altar call of "All The Way." A cozy "Exactly Like You" with bassist Martin Wind is a complete joy, while Ben E Ling's "I Who Have Nothing" is given a sepia mood with Ken Peplowsi's woody clarinet. She goes deep and dark with
guitarist Russell Malone on "4AM" and glows like light through a stained glass window with breathy tenor saxist Houston Person on "A Song For You." Completely unpretentious, and alluring in its stripped down essentials of what makes jazz so rich, Daniels makes jazz a verb again, breathing fresh air into dry bones.