Tierney Sutton Band - American Road (2011)

Five ENJOYABLE Stars! Outstanding performances by the triple Grammy-nominated Tierney Sutton Band who give us fresh, personal, jazzy renditions of some American music classics that cut a sonic swath through history, folk, faith, Broadway, jazz, and the Great American Songbook. Proving once again that she can sing any song into beautiful submission and bend it to her jazzy will, jazz singer Tierney Sutton is marvelous throughout singing and scatting, while getting the usual superb solos and support from the rest of this long-running band that she is so well integrated into: pianist Christian Jacob, bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker. A haunting "Wayfaring Stranger" is delivered over a driving Brinker beat with Tierney soaring above with fresh nuances. The combination of "Shenandoah/The Water is Wide" works beautifully as Tierney weaves these two classics into one mesmerizing tale. While the George Benson version of "On Broadway" is still the best, Tierney and the band convincingly rock hard on this classic, with a great Jacob solo and nice arrangement subtleties. The band takes three great bites out of the Gershwin "Porgy and Bess" apple: "My Man's Gone Now" with a tricky extra beat on the intro and closing, a plaintively lovely and off-kilter "Summertime", and perhaps, best of all, a sensational version of "It Ain't Necessarily So" that got replayed 3 times on my first pass thru and immediately was added to my crowded iPod. Bernstein/Sondheim's "West Side Story" is tapped for "Somewhere" and "Something's Coming/Cool": both very attractive, hip versions. The duo of Tierney and Christian take a dreamy "America the Beautiful" into 'goose bump' territory. Over a decade and a half into a great career, the Tierney Sutton Band deals up another wonderful recording, full of great performances, that is a must for old fans and those new to the uniqueness of this band, where Tierney can always say I'm With the Band. My Highest Recommendation. Five MARVELOUS Stars! (This review is based on my Amazon.com mp3 Cloud upload purchase: 12 tracks: time ~61:10.)

Tracklist:

01. Wayfaring Stranger
02. Oh Shenandoah/ The Water Is Wide
03. On Broadway
04. Amazing Grace
05. It Ain't Necessarily So
06. Summertime
07. My Man's Gone Now
08. Tenderly
09. The Eagle And Me
10. Somewhere
11. Something's Coming/Cool
12. America The Beautiful

Personnel:

Tierney Sutton (vocal)
Christian Jacob (piano)
Kevin Axt (acoustic, electric bass)
Trey Henry (acoustic, electric bass)
Ray Brinker (drums, percussion)