Album Notes

LINER NOTES BY JUDY ROBERTS - Judy Roberts, named "Chicago's Favorite Jazz Woman" by the Chicago Tribune, is a Grammy-nominated pianist/vocalist/recording artist and a columnist for the Chicago Jazz Magazine.

"Petra van Nuis and Andy Brown take us on an exhilarating musical journey to both intimate and faraway places on this captivating collaboration. Enjoying a magical rapport built on years of wedded bliss and countless gigs together, Petra and Andy showcase their musical mind melding on an eclectic array of great material. Their artful performances of these songs exemplify the true essence of the deep connection that they share.

As a jazz singer, Petra's unique and expressive phrasing gives her an instantly identifiable sound, and sets her happily apart from the crowd. Within one bar, you know it's her, and you want to hear more! Much of Petra's "own voice" comes from her intrinsically pure vision of how to sing lyrics - how to "speak" them, while choosing the perfect notes and length of phrase to convey meaning and musicality. Her natural instincts for the clever rhythmic placement of these notes flatter her delightfully beguiling voice. Her improvisational excursions on the melody are born of a true jazz stylist, one with sophisticated taste and a genuine respect for the material.

Petra lets us in on a candid and intimate view of her emotions, while always maintaining a sense of vivacious hopefulness. Sensuous, winsome and adorably hip, Petra's delectable delivery of these songs brings us the tantalizing flavors of Astrud Gilberto and Blossom Dearie in a young and appealing new voice.

Andy Brown not only provides the foundation for Petra's vocals, but stands alone as a world-class guitarist. This recording highlights both his amazing skills as an accompanist as well as his renowned work as a soloist. In both roles, his choice of chords and chord voicings are superb, and his clever inner-voices and melodic lines are always perfectly placed within Petra's vocals. His affectionate and empathetic backing on this interesting variety of song styles will be the envy of every vocalist who longs for the elusive great accompanist.

With flawless time and masterful technique, Andy's innovative guitar work covers the entire spectrum from bass to chords to melody to solos with surprising colors and textures. His command of the multi-dimensional voices of the guitar are the perfect complement to Petra's highly-stylized vocals.

Like their unique sound, Andy's and Petra's choice of songs is also a garden of unusual delights. In addition to covering such charming favorites as "Destination Moon," "Me, Myself, and I," and the jazz classic "Caravan," they also embark on a journey to the darker side of the jazz repertoire with a gorgeously haunting arrangement of the Bronislau Kaper/Paul Francis Webster composition, "Invitation." Even darker is the very obscure and daring "Born to Blow the Blues," written by the late George Russell and Jack Segal. This complex and challenging song is given a melancholy yet vibrantly soulful reading by Petra and Andy, and will likely set the standard for other artists to follow.

My personal favorite is their performance of the Sammy Cahn/Nicholas Brodszky classic, "I'll Never Stop Loving You." The level of passion and intimacy shared by Petra and Andy on this breathtaking song sums up the entire recording for me----it's all about the deep love and understanding of the music they share, and of each other. "