2. God Bless America
3. What A Wonderful World
4. All American Bluegrass Girl
5. Battle Hymn Of The Republic
6. America The Beautiful
7. The Star Spangled Banner
8. Gold Bless The USA
9. You're A Grand Old Flag
10. The Impossible Dream
11. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
12. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
13. Amazing Grace
iTUNES
JILLAINE'S WEB SITE
REVERB NATION
For those with short memories and/or dropping by Stubby's anew, Jillaine is a young vocalist whose 2011 Christmas album I absolutely adored. I included it in my list of favorites for the year and you can check out our full review of "Jazzy Christmas To You!" in the reviews section. Jillaine has a powerful voice and she knows how to use it. She's got mad jazz skills and the soul of a Blues woman, all of which she displays without the vocal gymnastics of lesser talents trying too hard to impress. Her ability to use her voice as an instrument, bending notes and sliding through scales is, in my opinion, nothing short of magnificent. It would be fair of you to question my objectivity on this; there is no doubt that, at this point, I am an unabashed fan. I love this woman's voice and I love pretty much everything she does with it. I even love that cover art above. Damn, that's awesome!
"As American As Jazz" is just one of THREE albums Jillaine has recorded and plans to release in the coming months (including a second Christmas album!) and its the one that's probably the hardest sell for me. I mean, I just don't sit around listening to old Kate Smith and George M. Cohen records. I just don't. But Jillaine pulls it off with aplomb. There are some really nice touches throughout--the bluesy piano roll on "God Bless America" for example--and once again Jillaine delights with some unexpected song selections like Rhonda Vincent's "All American Bluegrass Girl". For me, in the end, the highlights are the jazz combo numbers, "Wonderful World" and, most especially, "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To". But Jillaine's (again) paced the album very well and its a sweet listen from start to finish.
Props to the rest of the band, pianist Zach Wiggins, Jesse Quebbeman-Turley on drums, and James Archibald, the band's veteran and mainstay on bass. Me, I bought the album pretty much as soon as it hit iTunes. Like I said, I'm a fan. But, if you're inclined to try before you buy, you should be able to stream most (if not all) of the record at Reverb Nation. And, if you scroll down a bit, you might even find that "Amazing Grace" is available as a free download (also at Facebook).
Now I really can't wait for the new Christmas album. And, hey, guess what? I'm pretty sure this one will have an original track on it. More on that album shortly. In the meantime, go on and enjoy your Independence Day.