Recorded in 1999 but not released until four years later, Light of Day is the slyly titled debut by Devorah Day, a New York-based jazz singer who gets not merely musical but liner note support from Marion Brown, noted among other efforts for his work with John Coltrane on Ascension. Brown's enthusiastic words about Day resembling both Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald may seem like well-meaning hype, but a listen to the disc shows that it's not an ill-founded comparison at all. With a warm, casual approach to her singing ...
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Recorded in 1999 but not released until four years later, Light of Day is the slyly titled debut by Devorah Day, a New York-based jazz singer who gets not merely musical but liner note support from Marion Brown, noted among other efforts for his work with John Coltrane on Ascension. Brown's enthusiastic words about Day resembling both Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald may seem like well-meaning hype, but a listen to the disc shows that it's not an ill-founded comparison at all. With a warm, casual approach to her singing evident throughout -- she is as apt to not sing as she is to step up, and even on her own compositions like "Come Closer" it's predominantly the accompaniment that is heard -- she's not yet the equal of those giants but squarely falls in the tradition. Generally her tone is on the higher and sometimes lighter side, but she can certainly belt when she needs to -- and often saves it for the right moment, as when on "Lover Man" she suddenly cuts loose with a bit of throaty sass. "Dindi," a cover of an Antonio Carlos Jobim number, is even more striking, a full solo turn by her that's wonderful listening. The backing is an inspired mix, with a total of three sax players and one bassist being very much equal participants with Day in the performances -- they sound perfectly right for each other at just about all points. Given Brown's own work with ESP in the '60s, there's something of the same feeling of that label here as a result -- Light of Day is a recording to please the performers rather than the perceived market (the bit of chatter between "Our Bit of Piddling" and "Lover Man" quietly reinforces that). ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi
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