Issue #8
April 2002
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Detour Ahead by David Katz Sascha Dobson is a talented and attractive young jazz singer with a clear and well-controlled voice. Her first CD, "Detour Ahead", puts that talented voice on display in the best possible setting. Backed by the Chris Byars Octet (see our review in the September 2001 issue), with arrangements by Mr. Byars, the CD delivers eleven solid examples of jazz and standards well-sung.
Ms. Dobson is as comfortable crooning a torch song as she is belting out an up-tempo ballad. She is also adapt at the difficult art of scat-singing, turning her voice into a wordless instrument that both masters and blends with her instrumental accompaniment. Her feel for rhythm and phrasing carry her easily through numbers that would trip up most singers. "Quiet Nights", "What is This Thing Called Love", and "I Hear Music" are all exciting performances, with scat breaks that feel organic to the arrangement, not just show-offy cadenzas.
In some of the slower, more contemplative pieces, Ms. Dobson adds a breathy intimacy that's pure sex-appeal and contrasts beautifully with the unadorned crispness her voice exhibits in more up-tempo numbers. "I'll Never Forget You", "Soft Shoulders" and "Sophisticated Lady" display emotional understanding of the lyric.
She works well with the band, the culmination of a partnership formed over many nights of appearing together at several clubs. The songs on this CD were all tested before live audiences, and the CD reflects the lessons learned in the give-and-take that a performer engages in with the people she is entertaining. The stale feel of a studio session is absent here. The arrangements have similarly benefitted from live performance prior to recording, and perfectly suit the strengths of both Ms. Dobson and the Octet. Mr. Byars threatens to become, for Sascha Dobson, what Nelson Riddle was for Frank Sinatra.
"Detour Ahead" with Sascha Dobson and the Chris Byars Octet. Smalls Records, NYC
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