ALMA MICIC - That Old Feeling
WHALING CITY SOUND WCS 099
Alma Micic (voc); Rale Micic (elg/g); Corcoran Holt (b); Jonathan Blake (d); Tom Beckham (vib)
Born in Serbia and now domiciled in New York City, Ms Micic is a complete jazz singer; she has a clear voice, good phasing and diction and she can scat and swing with the best of them. She began playing piano at the age of six and had found a love and talent for singing by the time she reached high school. Performing with the Radio Belgrade Big Band at age 17 she has gone from strength to strength. This programme offers a set of five standards, Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, an attractive folksy song she wrote herself and a Russian/Romany traditional ballad. What is most impressive is that she brings her own sound, style and approach to all the material. A particularly good track here is Moonglow which offers Alma’s slick vocal including a scat chorus, some neat vibes and guitar, both solo and rhythmic support to the singer.
Although an uncommon line up, the rhythm guitar and vibes set up works extremely well on all these selections, bass and drums providing the extra drive throughout. Alma’s ballad style is especially warm and she uses her voice to good effect on Cry Me A River and her own composition Ne Zaboravi Me. A Russian folk song might seem an unlikely choice for a jazz singer but this reading is both melodic and sensitive as handled by Ms Micic and her band. Tasty, hard swinging versions of That Old Feeling and Honeysuckle Rose are not to be missed either. Although much of this material will be very familiar to jazz followers, the unique original approach from Alma Micic makes them all sound fresh once again.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
WHALING CITY SOUND WCS 099
Alma Micic (voc); Rale Micic (elg/g); Corcoran Holt (b); Jonathan Blake (d); Tom Beckham (vib)
Born in Serbia and now domiciled in New York City, Ms Micic is a complete jazz singer; she has a clear voice, good phasing and diction and she can scat and swing with the best of them. She began playing piano at the age of six and had found a love and talent for singing by the time she reached high school. Performing with the Radio Belgrade Big Band at age 17 she has gone from strength to strength. This programme offers a set of five standards, Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, an attractive folksy song she wrote herself and a Russian/Romany traditional ballad. What is most impressive is that she brings her own sound, style and approach to all the material. A particularly good track here is Moonglow which offers Alma’s slick vocal including a scat chorus, some neat vibes and guitar, both solo and rhythmic support to the singer.
Although an uncommon line up, the rhythm guitar and vibes set up works extremely well on all these selections, bass and drums providing the extra drive throughout. Alma’s ballad style is especially warm and she uses her voice to good effect on Cry Me A River and her own composition Ne Zaboravi Me. A Russian folk song might seem an unlikely choice for a jazz singer but this reading is both melodic and sensitive as handled by Ms Micic and her band. Tasty, hard swinging versions of That Old Feeling and Honeysuckle Rose are not to be missed either. Although much of this material will be very familiar to jazz followers, the unique original approach from Alma Micic makes them all sound fresh once again.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
