A Cuppa Tea With Jennifer

Bruce Von Stiers

Jennifer Zarine is a small town girl who decided to make it as a big city performer. From stage productions in musical theater to exciting live jazz performances, Jennifer has gained a lot of praise and a more than just a few fans.

Jennifer has recorded an album that has an interesting range of music. There are pop tunes, some jazz and even a jazz infused rock song. There is even one original song on the album. Jennifer gave the album the title of Fresh Made Cuppa Tea. She produced the album with Deena Kaye.

You know that a good jazz vocalist will have a good band backing them. That is very much the case for this album. Jennifer recruited Ben Gallina to play bass, Brady Miller for drums and Eric Lindberg to play guitar. There is also Eric Stephenson on cello, Josh Rutner on saxophone and Red Wierenga on piano and accordion.

The best known version of Orange Colored Sky is from Nat King Cole. This song is not only a jazz standard but is part of many a barbershop quartet’s repertoire. Jennifer definitely makes it her own with a sexy, fun style. Her rendition makes it seem like she recorded it in 1950, the year the song was first published.

The second song on the album is a very cool version of the Smokey Robinson tune The Way You Do Things You Do. Some of the higher vocal ranges that Jennifer has in the song reminded me of Maria Muldaur’s Midnight At The Oasis. For the background music, the song has a definite jazz twist in its arrangement.

Then there is the Billy Barnes song, Something Cool. Soft and gentle, this is a terrific rendition of the song.

An utterly fun, smile effecting and toe tapping song is Have A Cuppa Tea. This is a song that was written by Ray Davies and made famous by his band the Kinks. It is more of a folk tune than a rock song, but the Kinks were a bit different at that. Anyway, you can tell that Jennifer had a good time with the song by the humorous lilt to her vocals.

Then there are the aching, yet seductive vocals in You’re My Thrill.

And Jennifer has an interesting take on the Elton John song, I Need You To Turn To. The song has some really good cello and melodic vocals.

Another fun and toe-tapping tune is Boum. Jennifer sings the song in French as it was intended to be. You can just imagine Jennifer dancing around, singing this song in front of the Eiffel Tower.

While not exactly a trend, a few jazz vocalists are taking rock songs and turning them into great jazz songs. Kelly Sweet did an intriguing twist on the Aerosmith song Dream On. And on this album, Jennifer takes a Rolling Stones song, Paint It Black, and changes it into a seductive torch song. Tough guitar and sax support vocals by Jennifer that drip sexuality.

That is followed by a medley of the songs Smile and I’m All Smiles. Jennifer’s vocals are gentle and sedate.

Sleep is an original tune that Jennifer wrote. It isn’t quite as light as most of the other songs on the album. Smooth and fluid vocals are here as well as an almost otherworldly, orchestral sound.

Soft and gentle are the vocals in Bye Bye Baby.

The last song on the album is a mellow and easy rendition of the Billy Haynes song, That’s All.

Jennifer Zarine isn’t afraid to step away from the old standards that make up a lot of jazz vocalists songbook. With classics like Smile mixed in with Elton John and the Kinks songs, this is an extremely entertaining album.

Fresh Made Cuppa Tea can be found at amazon.com, CD Baby and other online and traditional music retailers.

Check out Jennifer and her music at http://web.mac.com/jzhabeck/Jazz_Site/Jennifer_Zarine_Jazz.html

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