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 | Ranee LeeLive At Le BijouLabel: Justin Time | Jazz | May 4, 1984Format UPC Order # Unit Price |
Production Credits | TracksNo Title Duration Excerpts 01 Med-Lee: It Don't Mean A Thing / On The Street Where You Live / Just In Time / All Of Me / Take The 'A' Train 00:06:06 04 Hallelujah, I Love Him So 00:04:30 05 Ridin' High 00:03:00 06 Honeysuckle Rose 00:05:11 07 Guess Who I Saw Today 00:04:27 08 All Right, Okay, You Win 00:06:24 09 Loverman 00:05:59 10 Summertime 00:05:09 Liner NotesThere are folks who'll tell you that the toughest jazz instrument to play is the voice.It makes sense. Tough indeed to come up with vocal pipes that can go up against a steamy sax, double-clutching piano or rough-riding trumpet. But when you hear a voice that can, the hairs standing at attention on the back of your neck testify to the fact that something very special is going on. So meet Ranee Lee. Or maybe you've already met her; as pop, rhythm & blues or rock singer. Or actress. Or dancer. She is all those things, and with a lot of zest, flair, talent and polish. So much polish, in fact, that when rumours about Ranee's jazz singing began to surface, habitués of Montreal's bar and club crowd were muttering, "Jazz? Oh come on, you're kidding! She's too... popular!" But those bet-hedgers are the same ecstatic people you hear carrying on, oohing and aahing and applauding on this album; Ranee's jazz debut on record. Ranee grew up with jazz and gospel in New York City, and she's ripe and ready to spread the word here in Montreal, with a voice that paints this collection of tried-and-true favorites with a whole palette of sounds. Listen to the satiny glide on "It don't mean a thing" ... the ecstatic shout on "Hallelujah I Love Him So"... (wouldn't you love to hear a Ray Charles / Ranee Lee remake of this one?)... the sassy, I-like-a-man-who-takes-his-time sashay on "Honeysuckle Rose". The musicians are with her all the way, giving her the kind of pot-boiling support that players put out for a vocalist who's earned their love and respect. And on every tune, as she's stamping her signature on lyrics that suddenly seem new, Ranee Lee is obviously having a ball! So pour yourself your favorite taste, put an arm around someone, someone you love, and let Ranee entertain you... with jazz. And if this is her first jazz album, just imagine her second... And her third... And her fourth. Katy Malloch Host of CBC Stereo's Jazz Beat. Montreal, February 1984 Having spent the better part of seven years in Montreal without ever hearing Ranee Lee sing, I finally kept a long-standing promise to myself and caught up with her at the Biddies Club late last fall. I was knocked out by her dynamism, and my review of that performance lauded Lee, the consummate pro, breathing new life into her dazzling repertoire of jazz standards. That observation, based as it was on sampling a couple of sets, certainly stands up as a description of this entire album. When Ranee Lee tackles these jazz standards, it's like listening to them for the first time all over again. If you haven't heard Ranee Lee before - don't make the same mistake as I did. If you have, you won't need any persuading. Gary Steckles Entertainment Editor, The Gazette Montreal, February 1984 |
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