LORRAINE FEATHER – Café Society (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

While it might not be as ambitious as her previous album, New York City Drag, where Lorraine Feather showed that she had the vocal and artistic chops to handle reinterpreting a number of Fats Waller tunes, Café Society does a nice job of showcasing this longtime vocalist's artistic range. From the hyper-exuberant version of "Jungle Rhythm" (featured in the sequel to the Disney classic The Jungle Book), to her reinterpretation of Duke Ellington instrumentals on "Creole Love Call" and "Rockin' in Rhythm," this album is a well-produced showcase of what Lorraine Feather can do. A number of originals co-written with famed songwriters like David Benoit and Don Grusin help add variety, with songs that range from swing to the softer side of contemporary jazz. Stacia Proefrock  Tracklist + Credits :

LORRAINE FEATHER – Such Sweet Thunder : Music of the Duke Ellington Orchestra (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

It's a shame that Lorraine Feather wasn't able to contribute lyrics to the music of Duke Ellington prior to his death in 1974, as she's a natural storyteller. Ellington composed or co-wrote most of the 11 songs on this CD, though Feather chose lesser-known and especially challenging material to embellish with her gifts. She is also a superb singer who gets the most out of every track, joined by a large cast of talented musicians who sound as if they've played every chart together night after night for years.

It's hard to beat her hilarious "Imaginary Guy" (based upon "Dancers in Love"), a terrific ditty about a girl so fed up with the opposite sex that she dreamed up the ideal man in her mind. The obscure bossa nova "The Ricitic," written by Ellington for his small group session with Coleman Hawkins, is transformed to the sidesplitting "Antarctica" (sample lyrics: "I cried all night/That's half a year"), a song that is guaranteed to tickle the funny bone of the sourest curmudgeon. The dark-tinged "Lovely Creatures" (based upon the second movement to "Night Creature") is not without its humorous moments ("You've got looks and bucks and yet these blues/Seem to stick to you like gum to shoes").

She wrote the words to "September Rain" (adapted from Billy Strayhorn's gorgeous ballad "Chelsea Bridge") a number of years earlier and recorded it with her group In Full Swing. This chart, with the rhythm section arranged by pianist Mike Lang and the vocal group by Morgan Ames, is every bit as lush as the original instrumental, showcasing Feather's upper range and Terry Harrington's mellow tenor sax. "The 101" is a hard-charging reworking of "Suburbanite" that tells of a dash down a highway to catch up with her lover.

The finale, "Mighty Like the Blues," features words and music by the late Leonard Feather, Lorraine's father. Ellington recorded it in 1938 and again in 1960, though her version, jointly arranged by Russell Ferrante and Bill Elliott, will likely eclipse the maestro's own recordings. Ken Dryden     Tracklist + Credits :

LORRAINE FEATHER – Dooji Wooji (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

After years of working and writing for the studios and for commercial groups, Lorraine Feather has found her niche in jazz as an inventive lyricist. Previous albums featured her very successful and witty words to Fats Waller and Duke Ellington piano pieces. Dooji Wooji, which has four Ellington tunes in the repertoire plus collaborations with Shelly Berg, Bill Elliott, Russell Ferrante, and Eddie Arkin, continues in the same vein even if most of the tunes are much more obscure. This time around, Feather, who is usually backed by five or six horns and a rhythm section, is particularly effective on the more bluesy material such as "A Ramble Through the Park," although she also does a fine job on the opening cooker "Calistoga Bay" and the uptempo "Indiana Lana" ("Jubilee Stomp"). The dozen selections are concise and the total time of the CD is under 42 minutes but what is here is excellent, almost coming to the high level of her classic Fats Waller set, New York City Drag. Scott Yanow     Tracklist + Credits : 
 

LORRAINE FEATHER – Language (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Over her mere seven-album discography, Lorraine Feather has carved out a fulfilling career as a jazz singer far outdistancing many one-shots, far less talented but successful pop-jazz vocalists, and wannabes. Her talent as a lyricist of wit, sarcasm, and keen observations of the American human condition is her true strength, and not always as acknowledged as her verbal chops and inventiveness. Her language goes beyond the nomenclatures of swing, bop, and contemporary improvisation, as Feather exploits many literary references and well-worn phraseology from various acumens, and keeps the proceedings upbeat and interactive between her words and the musical notes offered by her excellent confreres. Pianist Shelly Berg is closest to Feather as a collaborator, writing the music for Feather's cleverest lyrics. The quick, lithe, bouncy, and brisk "Traffic and Weather" relates to Bay Area commuter congestion, climatological issues, or references to inseparable pairings, and "We Appreciate Your Patience," with a cynical, animated take on annoying automated answering services, teams Feather and Berg in multilevel harmonic and whimsical refrains. Feather is fond of stringing worn-out clichés together, as on "Patience," but is in an especially sharp mood about trite multiple sports adages on the bopper "Hit the Ground Runnin'," featuring a furious Russell Ferrante on piano, and tells the all too familiar thoughts-racing, mouse-on-a-treadmill tale of "Where Are My Keys?," turning a dilemma into fun. Also skillful, aside from their lyric content, are her instrumental ideas, like using a horn section and a drummer only on the sassy tale of a career dilemma "Waiting Tables," or the slinky, bluesy Duke Ellington-like "A Household Name," debunking stardom and alerting you to the pitfalls of the celebrity trap. Feather can also be sentimental, as on her romanticized Billy Strayhorn waltz tribute "In Flower," the melancholy "I Love New York at Christmas," and her most languid, evocative tune, "Making It Up as We Go Along." She is rarely self-conscious or insular, but Ferrante's modal two-chord piano prop-up during "Home Alone" keeps Feather's possible dour mood in check, although she can't help being doting on "Very Unbecoming." On occasion, vocalists Tierney Sutton, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne enter in supportive vocal cameos. This may very well be Lorraine Feather's best effort, certainly the one where collaboration is the key, and statements on our disposable, technology-driven, time-consuming society had to be made. Bravo Lorraine, and hang in there! Michael G. Nastos       Tracklist + Credits :