Marilyn Scott - "Every Time We Say Goodbye"

With Every Time We Say Goodbye, Marilyn Scott is taking her love for jazz to the ultimate place her heart has always desired, to make an acoustic jazz album in New York City the way the legends used to do it - with the singer and musicians all cutting and working out arrangements together in the studio.

Although the physical CD is currently only available as a Japanese import, jazz fans can download the album on iTunes or purchase the CD from Marilyn’s website, though soon it will also be available on Amazon.com. The 10-song collection is comprised of standards such as the Cole Porter-penned title track, which sets the pace for the album as Marilyn’s exceptionally soothing vocals take the listener to another time and place. The artist spreads her wings on Irving Berlin's "I Got Lost in His Arms" with a distinct flavor and rhythm that recalls Ella Fitzgerald paired with Joe Pass. Sister blues shows up on "Detour Ahead," where Marilyn shows the incredible diversity and confidence in her vocal style as jazz and blues intermingle and remind us of how close they are but a world apart with vocal tones and inflection. The arrangements offer new shades to familiar favorites when jazz was king, as do Marilyn's crafty and eloquent vocal interpretations.

The outstanding musicianship that accompanies Ms. Scott on Every Time We Say Goodbye comes from a seasoned East Coast quintet led by acclaimed pianist Cyrus Chestnut and produced for the Japan-based Venus Records imprint by label president Tetsuo Hara and veteran jazz musician/producer Todd Barkan - his partner of 15 years.

The process of creating Every Time We Say Goodbye was filled with spontaneity and some surprises along the way. "Todd called me in June of 2007 and asked if I'd be interested in doing something for Venus," Ms. Scott recalls. "The company was looking to do more vocal projects." Barkan - whose extensive resume includes production for jazz vocal greats such as Jimmy Scott, Gloria Lynne, Freddy Cole and Vanessa Rubin, as well as Venus' own Barbara Carroll and Simone Kopmajer - adds, "A year ago Mr. Hara asked me to send him demo materials on a bunch of singers to see what resonated with him and the Japanese market. I first became aware of Marilyn through a neighbor of mine - an amateur music enthusiast with whom I'm constantly sharing new music. Though Marilyn's musical style was not the idiom I normally work in, she had a resonance and timbre in her voice that I felt would sound wonderful within a straight ahead jazz framework. Mr. Hara and I both felt strongly about this, so we reached out to her."

“Vocalist Marilyn Scott has put out a shocker of a new release, and that’s in a good sense… All throughout the disc, Scott is warm, convincing, and seemingly comfortable in the genre that she’s finally plunged in. Hopefully this disc is the first in a long series. Pleasant surprise of the year.” George Harris/LA Jazz Weekly


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