The Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra capped its socially-distanced 2020-21 season at Artis-Naples on Wednesday, May 12 with a concert that featured singer Denise Donatelli. With strong support from the venue’s resident jazz sextet (with an added special guest), it showcased the Los Angeles-based singer’s superb no-frills vocal artistry.

“Thanks for bringing me to Naples. Thanks for getting me out of the house,” Donatelli told band and the masked audience scattered throughout Hayes Hall. This was her first live concert gig in more than a year, but there was no rust in evidence. None at all.

Donatelli sings in service to the song and the lyrics. No vocal gymnastics. No needless scatting. None of the artifice or theatrics sometimes found in the cabaret world. This is a good thing. Her timing, her phrasing and her innate sense of swing were on full display and fit hand-in-glove with the band’s instrumental support.

The NPJO includes tenor saxophonist and artistic director Lew Del Gatto, trumpeter Dan Miller, violinist Glenn Basham, pianist Jerry Stawski, bassist Kevin Mauldin and drummer Mike Harvey. For this performance, because several of Donatelli’s recent recordings have included a guitarist, they were joined by John Hart. A New York jazz scene mainstay for several decades with extensive experience backing singers, Hart is now a guitar lecturer at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. He fit right in with this high-powered band.

They swung hard right out of the gate with a 10-tune program that included “That Old Devil Moon,” “All or Nothing At All,” “When Lights Are Low,” “You Stepped Out of a Dream” (Donatelli remarking that singing in front of a live audience again indeed felt like a dream), Burt Bacharach’s “A House is not a Home” and “My Shining Hour.” Other fine choices scattered through the program from Donatelli’s wide-ranging repertoire included Gigi Gryce’s “Social Call” (with Jon Hendricks lyrics), The Crusaders/Bill Withers hit “Soul Shadows,” and jazz arrangements of Sting’s 2013 song “Practical Arrangement” (with the horns sitting out), and Joni Mitchell’s most appropriate “Be Cool.” 

The instrumentalists were featured with strong solo moments throughout the evening. Basham was showcased on “Social Call,” Hart on “When Lights are Low,” Miller on the poignant “You Stepped Out of a Dream.” Del Gatto, a thoughtful soloist who never plays an unnecessary note, was featured on “That Old Devil Moon” and “A House is not a Home.”

Because of the pandemic, the NPJO moved its series from the cozier 275-seat Daniels Pavilion to the 1,700-seat Hayes Hall performance hall next door, with limited seating and mandatory masking. Next season, they hope to bring in several scheduled special guests who were unable to make the series this year. They include alto saxophonist Charles McPherson and singer Kenny Washington.

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The Recording Academy asked this year’s first-time GRAMMY nominees to collect their thoughts and share what it feels like to be nominated for a GRAMMY. Tune in to the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13 on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

I was on my way to meet up with friends for dinner, and just as I was walking into the restaurant I received a text from my producer/arranger/pianist and dear friend, Geoffrey Keezer. Geoffrey told me he had been nominated for his arrangement of “Don’t Explain,” a cut on my album When Lights Are Low. My friends and I were toasting his nomination along with Bill Cunliffe’s nomination for Best Instrumental Composition, who was also having dinner with us, when I got another text from Geoffrey saying, “You got a nom too, for Best Jazz Vocal Album.”

I’ve saved the text and haven’t been able to delete it yet. I’m still in shock! I’ve been fortunate to have released three albums, but a GRAMMY nomination was not only a goal, it is now a dream fulfilled. To be acknowledged in this way by The Academy is beyond my wildest expectations — especially given that I am in the company of such great artists who I have admired over the years.

Having been nominated also opens many doors, including the fashion ones. What do I wear to the GRAMMYs? To my pleasant surprise, I was contacted by an extraordinary designer, Sherri Hill (whose dresses have been worn by the likes of Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood), to see if I would be interested in checking out her collection, which I did. Not only did I get to try on fabulous designer clothes that I am definitely considering for the GRAMMYs, I got to have my hair and makeup done by Paul Anthony, and photos taken looking red carpet-ready by famed photographer Fadil Berisha, who was there for a photo shoot with former Los Angeles Lakers star Rick Fox and his girlfriend Eliza Dushku.

I’m so looking forward to GRAMMY Weekend and attending the GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 13. It doesn’t get any better than this! Well, maybe a win.

(Denise Donatelli is nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for When Lights Are Low at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Donatelli released her debut album, In The Company Of Friends, in 2005, and her sophomore release, 2008’s What Lies Within, reached No. 11 on the JazzWeek national radio airplay chart.)

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Even though jazz vocalist Denise Donatelli is a graduate of Allentown’s Parkland High School, Sunday marked the first time she performed in Allentown’s Miller Symphony Hall. Moving to Los Angeles was a good idea, though, since she has received Grammy nominations for her last three albums.

The third floor Rodale room was filled with fans, members of Donatelli’s family and a table of students from El Sistema of the Lehigh Valley. The concert was a benefit for El Sistema, a program that provides music education to underserved and special needs youth.

Smoothness was the key to Donatelli’s sound with her band of four New York City musicians. The band used a number of rhythms, like an Afro-Caribbean take on “All or Nothing At All” and the South American “Spaced Out (En Babia).” But everything was perfectly played and fit right into place, led by Donatelli’s strong but relaxed vocals.

Don Braden on tenor and soprano sax and flute and Dave Kikoski on grand piano varied from lightning runs to gentle melodic solos. Ed Howard on standup bass and Clarence Penn on drums gave an insistent but subtle push.

Donatelli began with “Old Devil Moon.” Although she also sang “Skylark,” the two-hour show was notable for having wonderful songs taken from her albums that are not overly familiar in a jazz setting. They included Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool,” Donald Fagan’s “Big Noise New York,” and Sting’s “Practical Arrangement,” the latter written for the Broadway play “The Last Ship.”

The many love songs were generally upbeat, not dealing with heartbreak. “Two hearts revealing/music hath charms” were the words that led off “When Lights Are Low,” the title track of her 2010 album. “I trip over stepping stones/that lead to the deep unknown,” on “Love and Paris Rain” from her 2015 album “Find a Heart,” gently looked forward.

The one negative was Donatelli’s mike, which was too loud at the beginning in relation to her band, with too much treble and having a slight echo that made her difficult to understand at times. This was less noticeable in the second half.

Hopefully the Lehigh Valley will not have to wait so long for her to return for a concert.

Dave Howell is a freelance writer.

Original Review

In last month’s five-night engagement—at five different venues—Denise Donatelli made it clear that she is on a determined quest to expand the parameters of the jazz cabaret songbook. In “Big Noise/New York,” her eleven-number set, which I saw at the Metropolitan Room, she found new gold, especially in the adult contemporary world of Sting, Beck, David Crosby, Joni Mitchell, Brenda Russell, Steely Dan, Journey, and the Yellowjackets. Donatelli is solidly grounded in traditional jazz and swings with the best of them; six of her songs came from latest CD, “Find a Heart,” for which she was celebrating her third consecutive Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Jazz Album. But she was happy to experiment with tempos and lyrics. In this she was abetted by her able quartet—Laurence Hobgood, piano, Lage Lund, guitar, Ed Howard, bass, Jon Wikan, drums—plus Don Braden on alto- and soprano saxophones and flute.

Donatelli performed a couple of standards: “All or Nothing at All” (Jack Lawrence, Arthur Altman); and “My Shining Hour” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer). But these were more up-tempo and swingier than as usually heard. Both up-tempo and upbeat lyrically, “Spaced Out” (Geoffrey Keezer, Susan Marder, who doubled as a backup singer for this set) opined “I am lighter than a cloud…happy just to be in love” On the other hand, Sting’s “Practical Arrangement,” from his concept album “The Last Ship” (but unaccountably missing from the Broadway musical adapted from it), offered a more practical tone: “Am I asking for the moon? Is it really so impossible?…I’ve always been a realist…I’m not suggesting that we find a paradise forever, [just] a practical solution to a solitary life.” Here Braden’s wistful flute provided exceptional emphasis.

On the other hand, Beck’s bitterly ironic reversal of a love song, “Eyes That Say I Love You,” predicts “You’ll come runnin’ [back to me] with eyes that say I love you… You’ll be blind, I won’t know you. I won’t see you, I won’t need you, I won’t love you anymore.” While Donatelli gave the song every ounce of required bile, she also managed to swing it, and when it was over, she almost cheerily observed, “someone must have done something really bad to Beck.” I’m guessing that Donatelli wouldn’t be at her most comfortable singing hardcore blues.

“Love and Paris Rain” (Russell Ferrante and William Kennedy of the jazz fusion quartet the Yellowjackets, lyrics by Brenda Russell) is less the prosaic stroll through the dampened Tuileries that the title suggests and more a profound view of the real deal: “Every hour I’m deeper into love…Take me now as I unfold my very soul to you.” Donatelli gave the song the reading it deserved, as did, particularly, Hobgood on piano, Lund on guitar, and Braden on soprano sax.

She was at her slowest and sultriest on “In This Moment” (Billy Childs), noting “You are here within my reach…Now you’re mine, ’cause we have tonight, and this moment for all time.” With “Find a Heart” (David Crosby, Marcus Eaton, James Raymond) she offered, “In a voice so free of doubt,” the song’s solid advice to those who seek the love that leads to completion. Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool” proved an appropriate Donatelli signature song and denouement for her show, whose finale was the six-minute-plus title song, “Big Noise/New York” (Donald Fagan of Steely Dan, Marcelle Clements), which instrumentally came off as a loud “trad jazz” celebration. But its lyrics lamented: “Without your love, this town’s no fun at all…I only hear the loudest voices…it’s all big talk.”

With five musicians on stage, the band occasionally threatened to overpower the singer, but these overly big noises never lasted for very long and Donatelli was always ready and willing to re-balance any blare.

“Big Noise/New York”
Metropolitan Room  –  February 11

Original Article

58th GRAMMYⓇ Awards

58th GRAMMYⓇ Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 15: Recording artist Denise Donatelli attends The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for NARAS)

58th GRAMMYⓇ Awards