best blues you’ll hear Darden Purcell – WHERE THE BLUE BEGINS: One of the things a jazz vocalist must have is – precision; in the sense of timing, and in their ability to “mesh” with the instruments that are supporting them. Ms. Purcell has that in ways no other vocalist I’ve listened to lately does… just listen to Shawn Purcell’s arrangement and Darden’s lively execution on the (totally) upbeat opening track, “Destination Moon“… this isn’t like any other version you’ve heard, and will have you hitting the repeat button often… since I’m a (sometime) keyboard player, I was especially attracted to this piece… the organ (Todd Simon) is jam-packed with raw jazz energy!
Darden has an excellent cast of players helping her out – Stockton Helbing (drums and cymbals) produced, with musical direction by Shawn Purcell (nylon string and electric guitar); other players are Todd Simon (B3 organ, piano, wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes), Paul Henry (acoustic and electric bass) and Kenny Rittenhouse (flugelhorn and trumpet), and they are totally “on” from opening note to the very last bar! I just loved the group’s performance on “Old Devil Moon“… again, it may be a classic, but Darden & her folks just “own” it!
Make sure you arrange for (at least) an hour to listen to this CD (headphones recommended), so you can absorb every scintillating note on this high-end musical adventure… my personal favorite of the eleven songs offered up on this release is the mighty mellow “Lullaby of the Leaves“… beautiful bass intro from Paul & a segue into a “Peggy Lee” type vibe that is pure jazz perfection… I give Darden & her folks a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of 4.99. Learn more about this fascinating jazz vocalist and educator on Darden’s website. Rotcod Zzaj
