Are you in the mood for a great jazz ballad? VOA's Doug Levine tell us to look no further than vocalist Jackie Ryan, who delivers a fresh take on some classic love songs on her new CD, You And The Night And The Music.
Jackie Ryan's love affair with love songs began when she first heard legendary vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Jon Hendricks on a local jazz radio station. It didn't hurt that her parents were both singers who encouraged their daughter to perform. By age 15, she was singing and composing in dance bands before embarking on what Jackie refers to as her "life on the road."
"This was how I learned jazz, by living it. The road was my school," she explains.
Jackie Ryan is no stranger to the road, having performed in Europe, Asia, Canada and the U.S. Jackie is equally familiar with the recording studio, where she's right at home singing sultry ballads such as "Never Let Me Go," or Latin jazz on "Besame Mucho."
As producer of her latest album, You And The Night And The Music, Jackie Ryan had total creative control. She chose the songs she wanted to record, the arrangers she wanted to record with, and the musicians for her backup band. Veteran jazz saxophonist Red Holloway appears alongside her trio on five songs.
Jackie's upcoming tour includes three tribute concerts to the late jazz bandleader Benny Carter, featuring the Benny Carter Centennial Tribute Band.
