CHRISTINE HITT - Magical Kite
Self- produced www.christinehittmusic.com
Christine Hitt, Cory Hitt, Erin Bode (v); John Bearsley, Geoffrey Keezer (p); Eric Hitt (bass); Jeff Hamilton, Gene Coye (d); Leo Amuedo (guitar); Bob Sheppard (alto sax); Walter Rodriguez (pc)
Hollywood, June 14 & 15 2017
Beginning with the old Gospel piece 'Wade In The Water', Christine Hitt comes across as a sturdy jazz singer with a strong, earthy vocal sound. She is backed by a rocking rhythm section and Sheppard’s blues based alto. Eric Hitt has a virile bass solo but no information is given on the sleeve or the press release about his relationship with the vocalist. Same goes for Cory Hitt, surely another close relation? Her own song, 'Magical Kite' follows, a piece written about a childhood experience with her dad and a kite. On this and most of the selections, Christine’s voice is well supported by pianist John Beasley who contributes tasty solos throughout. Stevie Wonder’s 'Don’t You Worry' fits in well with a jazz vocal treatment, well set up by Amuedo’s guitar introduction. Cute melodica solo on this one.
More familiar jazz territory is visited with Christine’s version of Charlie Parker’s 'Yardbird Suite'. Alto and rhythm lead off and the singer then sings and scats her way through it in jazz mode. Drummer Jeff Hamilton features here in his first appearance on the disc and thrusts the rhythm ahead impressively in tandem with Beasley and Eric Hitt. Ms Hitt has produced a reasonable mix of jazz and popular material here and thrown in, for good measure, unlikely pieces such as the rarely heard 'Shine On Harvest Moon', complete with even more rare verse. The voice is flexible and happily adapts to popular tunes such as this and she sounds equally at home on jazz staples. The CD concludes with 'Chaplin’s Smile' and a neat duet with producer Geoffrey Keezer on 'Around The World'.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
Self- produced www.christinehittmusic.com
Christine Hitt, Cory Hitt, Erin Bode (v); John Bearsley, Geoffrey Keezer (p); Eric Hitt (bass); Jeff Hamilton, Gene Coye (d); Leo Amuedo (guitar); Bob Sheppard (alto sax); Walter Rodriguez (pc)
Hollywood, June 14 & 15 2017
Beginning with the old Gospel piece 'Wade In The Water', Christine Hitt comes across as a sturdy jazz singer with a strong, earthy vocal sound. She is backed by a rocking rhythm section and Sheppard’s blues based alto. Eric Hitt has a virile bass solo but no information is given on the sleeve or the press release about his relationship with the vocalist. Same goes for Cory Hitt, surely another close relation? Her own song, 'Magical Kite' follows, a piece written about a childhood experience with her dad and a kite. On this and most of the selections, Christine’s voice is well supported by pianist John Beasley who contributes tasty solos throughout. Stevie Wonder’s 'Don’t You Worry' fits in well with a jazz vocal treatment, well set up by Amuedo’s guitar introduction. Cute melodica solo on this one.
More familiar jazz territory is visited with Christine’s version of Charlie Parker’s 'Yardbird Suite'. Alto and rhythm lead off and the singer then sings and scats her way through it in jazz mode. Drummer Jeff Hamilton features here in his first appearance on the disc and thrusts the rhythm ahead impressively in tandem with Beasley and Eric Hitt. Ms Hitt has produced a reasonable mix of jazz and popular material here and thrown in, for good measure, unlikely pieces such as the rarely heard 'Shine On Harvest Moon', complete with even more rare verse. The voice is flexible and happily adapts to popular tunes such as this and she sounds equally at home on jazz staples. The CD concludes with 'Chaplin’s Smile' and a neat duet with producer Geoffrey Keezer on 'Around The World'.
Reviewed by Derek Ansell
