Ms. Jaz and JAMSET

“Ms. Jaz is #1 on the Independent Australian Radio Jazz Chart!” -

LOS ANGELES (Creativity in Music) - The smoky and soulful vocals of Cincinnati's Ms. Jaz are highlighted on her new live CD " Me Too Live" recorded in concert at the prestigious Chez Nora's "Rooftop". Ms. Jaz is backed by her stellar band helmed by musical director and bassist Kerry Jordan. The CD features a great live version of the title track which is a Ms. Jaz original. Plus, Ms. Jaz performs exciting takes on classic songs such as "Boy From Ipenema" and Sade's "Sweetest Taboo".

Radio stations and listeners can go to www.msjaz.com and www.cdbaby.com/cd/msjaz2 for CD ordering and all Ms. Jaz info. Ms. Jaz plans to tour extensively in 2006 and 2007 and she will be doing a Northeast press tour in September to promote the new CD.

Contemporary/Smooth Jazz and Soft R&B are the styles of music you will hear when attending a Ms. Jaz performance. Be it a festival or indoor venue, you will feel as though you are sitting front row at a national concert.

Smoky and smooth are the words used to describe her vocals. Named among the "Top Ten Jazz Albums" in British Columbia in 2003, and named by Cincinnati's Citybeat Magazine as one of the "Top Local Artists to Produce a CD on A National Level", Ms. Jaz rose to popularity with her 2002 CD release "Chances".

A Cincinnati based vocalist and writer; she has performed in various cities across the nation. She has shared the stage with such artists as jazz great Gumbi Ortiz, percussionist for guitar great Al Di Meola.

Many have compared her smooth vocals to the great Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan, Phyllis Hyman and Anita Baker. Ms. Jaz performed background vocals live in concert for Phil Perry, Windham Hill's hot vocalist at Cincinnati's Aronoff Center and opened for Regina Belle at the 1999 Applause Magazine Image Maker Awards Gala, Bobby Blue Bland, Marion Meadows and Pieces Of A Dream. 2004 was her debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) as the featured artist on a Jazz Cruise sponsored by the CSO.

She has been featured regionally with Cincinnati's own "JAMSET" a group comprised of session and touring musicians who have played and opened for such acts as Roy Ayers, Jean Carne, Ronnie Laws, Pieces of a Dream, Phil Perry, Regina Belle, and most recently Bobby Blue Bland.

In addition to Jazz, she performs Adult Contemporary, Blues, and Motown.

Jaz is no stranger to live theatre. As a member of Cincinnati's Amethyst Ensemble, she received leading roles in numerous live theatre productions.

Jaz's first single was released on the "Essence of Now" Record Label December 15, 2001. Her first released CD, "Chances" was recorded on the D'Mar Entertainment Record Label.

Presently, the Ms. Jaz Fan Club is growing with membership circling the globe. Jaz is being marketed internationally with sales in the USA, Japan, The Netherlands, Italy, Australia, British Columbia, Canada, Germany and The United Kingdom. - Top 40 Charts.com

I wasn't aware of Ms. Jaz until I received a promotional disk in the mail. Before I opened the CD and started to listen to it I did I quick search on the internet and immediately found that she already has at least one album to her credit and a following in Cincinnati Ohio. Ms. Jaz arrived on the scene in 2002 with her CD "Chances". The web site "CD Baby" has posted news of her albums being named one of the Top Ten Albums of the year according to a Jazz station in British Columbia, Canada in 2003, and named by Cincinnati's Citybeat Magazine as one of the "Top Local Artists to Produce a CD on A National Level".

So, the question needs to be asked - how come I haven't heard of her before this week? Bluntly, she's not the stereotypical new-comer. She's not young and slim and won't compete with the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan or even Norah Jones. Nor should she have to - she deserves better.

There's something brave about a performer who doesn't fit the mold of what the media or the general consensus thinks a new performer should look like. There's something about someone who defies age, stereotypes and the odds and says to the world: "This is me, this is who am, this is what I'm doing... accept me for who I am." Doing so can be a little scary and intimidating as you're putting yourself out there. You can just feel the butterflies in your stomach just thinking about the last time you did something to make you feel that way (and if you haven't, you haven't lived.) and I empathies with anyone who's doing so now. I'm rooting for Ms. Jaz!

With this album, you can identify with that emotion. It translates very well on this live album. While listening to this album I can sense her initial nervousness and apprehension with the first few bars of music. Here, Ms. Jaz goes into a club to sing a short list of songs (Could be just one set of songs during a whole night, or just the best of an entire evening of singing) and wins over the crowd with each song performed. Soon after the second or third cut, what could have been a potential lion's den becomes friendly crowd...

... Which is why I'm becoming a bigger fan of Jazz as a music genre - not only is it friendly to fedora clad audience members and the perfect soundtrack to our daily lives, it's a pure meritocracy. The focus is less on looks and more on talent. Experience over appearance.

As for the actual album, I'm always dubious over live albums. They come in two categories - essential listening or disks that become coasters. As of this writing I can assure you the album IS NOT sitting under my coffee mug.

Ms. Jaz does cover's of 8 songs (9 if you count "Happy Birthday" to Rose, a member of the audience...) most of which I've already heard before, but done in a way that makes each of these songs unique. What's the point of doing songs like "My Funny Valentine," "Get Here," "Route 66" and "Sweetest Taboo," just like the people who made those songs famous? Why redo these songs that are standards on many other albums just like everyone else - like Natalie Cole's version of "Route 66," which has been done over and over again by people who came before her, including Ms. Cole's father?

Ms. Jaz does a good job answering that question, "What's the point of redoing songs already made famous or signature songs by other artists" by making these songs her own the night this disk was recorded. The best songs on this disk for me were the cuts "Guess Who I Saw Today" (Originally done by Nancy Wilson,) and the title track "Me, Too." written by my Bass Player and Musical Director Kerry "Smurf" Jordan. It originally appeared on first on Ms. Jaz's CD "Chances," which I've heard aired on a local radio station in New England (we have only two jazz stations here in New England, sadly...) and this is the first time I've been able to put a name to the voice that sings this song. All the other songs on this album have her own unique spin on them, making songs we're already familiar with fresh and new again.

The only songs I didn't care much for was her version of "The Girl from Ipanema" (Retiled "The Boy From Ipanema..") and the ill-placed Happy Birthday song that I mentioned earlier. They don't ruin the disk, but they just feel misplaced or don't belong...

Other then that, the album is perfect as far as live albums go. Most Live Albums from lesser known (but just as deserving) artists often tend to sound distorted or muffled with no stereo track or you're unable to distinguish between interments because the producer was unable to channel each one correctly. This album has very few of those problems, with the exception of a few brief moments when it should like Ms. Jaz is too close to the microphone or the two instances of mic-feedback.

Besides a few minor flaws, you can actual feel the mood of The Rooftop Jazz Room at the Chez Nora Restaurant when this was recorded. I can actually feel or sense the flavor that was in the air that night and I have a slight bit of envy for not being their the night the album was recorded. That's what great jazz does - it's sets the mood of the evening. Listening to this album makes it hard for anyone to feel anything else but besides romantic and happy.

This is a good live album and has me looking forward to listening to other albums of hers in the future. - The Fedora Chronicals