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Lorraine Castellanos, fronting an ad hoc group featuring guitarist Joey Carano, bassist Rob Thorsen, drummer Fernando Gomez and her trumpet-master husband Gilbert Castellanos, celebrated the career of the recently departed Eydie Gorme at 98 Bottles on Sept. 7.
There is a nuanced vulnerability to Castellanos' voice that always reminds me of a fusion of Billie Holiday and Astrud Gilberto, and when she began the concert scraping a guira and intoning the lyrics to "Piel Canela," in Spanish, I was "all in" for the experience. Carano deftly combined single-note phrases with elliptical chords over the solid bass and drums of Thorsen and Gomez.
Sporting a sensual coo over the lugubrious swing of "Make Yourself Comfortable," Lorraine inspired warm trumpet displays and a Jim Hall-like phraseology from Carano.
The trumpeter assumed leadership for the surging bebop flow of "toot-toot Tootsie," peppering his long lines with tart ideas and sculpted tones, followed by Carano, who always manages to make disconnected staccato bursts gel into a swinging whole, while Gomez exploded with tight volleys between toms, snare and hi-hat to round out the string of solos.
Lorraine's voice is strong enough to function as an instrumental device -- aptly demonstrated on "Basin Street Blues," where her flawless pitch, elastic phrasing and rhythmic confidence fit nicely against the warbled, growling plunger mute essay of her partner in crime.
"What a Difference a Day Makes," found the vocalist tracing the contours of the melody with aching clarity, while Carano's elegant chromatic connections melded with Thorsen's moaning whole notes in a trio setting.
It all came to a close with a lilting medley of "Blame It On The Bossa Nova," melding into "Desafinado," for a hot minute, and resolving with "Girl From Ipanema," sung in Portuguese!
Nice stuff.
Photo by Lillian Serrano
Lorraine Castellanos, fronting an ad hoc group featuring guitarist Joey Carano, bassist Rob Thorsen, drummer Fernando Gomez and her trumpet-master husband Gilbert Castellanos, celebrated the career of the recently departed Eydie Gorme at 98 Bottles on Sept. 7.
There is a nuanced vulnerability to Castellanos' voice that always reminds me of a fusion of Billie Holiday and Astrud Gilberto, and when she began the concert scraping a guira and intoning the lyrics to "Piel Canela," in Spanish, I was "all in" for the experience. Carano deftly combined single-note phrases with elliptical chords over the solid bass and drums of Thorsen and Gomez.
Sporting a sensual coo over the lugubrious swing of "Make Yourself Comfortable," Lorraine inspired warm trumpet displays and a Jim Hall-like phraseology from Carano.
The trumpeter assumed leadership for the surging bebop flow of "toot-toot Tootsie," peppering his long lines with tart ideas and sculpted tones, followed by Carano, who always manages to make disconnected staccato bursts gel into a swinging whole, while Gomez exploded with tight volleys between toms, snare and hi-hat to round out the string of solos.
Lorraine's voice is strong enough to function as an instrumental device -- aptly demonstrated on "Basin Street Blues," where her flawless pitch, elastic phrasing and rhythmic confidence fit nicely against the warbled, growling plunger mute essay of her partner in crime.
"What a Difference a Day Makes," found the vocalist tracing the contours of the melody with aching clarity, while Carano's elegant chromatic connections melded with Thorsen's moaning whole notes in a trio setting.
It all came to a close with a lilting medley of "Blame It On The Bossa Nova," melding into "Desafinado," for a hot minute, and resolving with "Girl From Ipanema," sung in Portuguese!
Nice stuff.
Photo by Lillian Serrano