Boogsey Music

JazzReview.com – Reviewed by Donna Kimura

Jazz vocalist Kaylene Peoples must have been in a nostalgic mood when she made All Jazzed Up! The 13-track CD has a strong lineup of beloved standards, including “My Funny Valentine” and “Lush Life,” creating late-night jazz club vibe. The album also has a healthy dose of bossa nova tunes, with several numbers from the songbook of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Three original songs round out the CD. Peoples has a big five-octave range that floats above the instruments. This airy quality is especially well-suited for the breezy bossa nova numbers that are never too far away. She kicks off the album with Jobim’s “One Note Samba.” She makes the song sound effortless, interjecting a quick scat as well as a nice flute solo. Another example of this is on “Girl from Ipanema.” She manages to make the well-traveled song her own, with the addition of a lengthy and fitting instrumental solo.”One Note Samba” leads into the original “Do You Remember?” The warm ballad sounds like it could have come off of an old Nancy Wilson or Gloria Lynne album.Peoples then demonstrates her interpretive skills with a jazz treatment of “My Favorite Things.” She is accompanied on the CD by guitarist Rich Mouser and the Peoples Republic Trio.Another track worth mentioning is Hoagy Carmichael’s “Nearness of You.” Here, Mouser’s acoustic guitar and Peoples’ vocals work beautifully together on the slow, gentle start. Peoples then kicks it into high gear, upping the tempo before slowing it down again for the ending. She seems to have made an effort to make sure that the songs have a strong beginning and end, a quality that is missing from many productions today. (Go to http://www.jazzreview.com/cd/review-17504.html to read this review in its entirety).

SonicSoul.com – Reviewed by Jorge Michael Schmitt Sonic Soul Magazine

Jazz standards — at first this does not sound very exciting, but just like another little fish in the evergrowing vocal-jazz pond, and just like once before Kaylene Peoples could convince us otherwise as she did with Rite of Passage (see review- in 2004) with perfect soul-pop, and this time with her perfected jazz variations. It is a rather neverending task of course to find unknown aspects for all time favorites such as “My Funny Valentine” or “Girl from Ipanema,” however kaylene does so by emphasizing her vocal qualities (5 octaves – in between elegant heartbreak, tender seduction and expressive passion), and in addition shows us that she is a master in playing the flute. She is also accompanied by a formidable trio just as tradition intended. Peoples also throws in her own songwriting without any difference in quality in between the milestone songs of jazz history. The lady strives for perfection, but always with style and personality. Therefore All Jazzed Up! is not just another vocal-jazz album, but a statement that can do justice to the “song-pearls” in every way. (Go to http://www.soulsite.de/sonic/index.shtml to read this review in German.