Album Notes

"...Sally deBroux, a shining new talent who started making her mark a few years ago...has quickly grown as a jazz vocalist.

Her singing is cooler classic jazz...Her first CD, "The Way Love Can Be," will help to define her aesthetic, which imaginatively explores the implications of jazz standards with improvisational daring and nuanced expression.

On deBroux's new CD, her excellent group is far more than a mere musical background. The musicians are often integral to how she sings and the total effect of her expression. One example is her powerfully modern arrangement of the standard "Nature Boy."

DeBroux's singing has a full-throated passion that recalls saxophonist John Coltrane's version of the song, with its driving modal swing.

Then she sings the bittersweet standard "Autumn Leaves" in its original French lyrics (with a wholly convincing accent), capturing its forlorn poetry. Violinist Randy Hoecherl is right with her, evoking the silky elegance of French violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Her interpretation of "Goodbye," with John Becker voicing rich piano chords, provides a similar emotional inlet to this singer's expressive poetry. The band members are all appropriately sensitive and swinging throughout, but Hoecherl especially is a revelation with his stylistic versatility.

"I love to push the envelope, using my voice like other instruments, being open and free and playful about it," deBroux says.

Throughout the CD, her singing reflects the improvisational invention of her accompanists, whether in her bluesy phrasing, supple vibrato or scat solos, where her voice emulates their musical sonorities. In such singing the voice becomes an instrument of pure expression.

DeBroux has long been a jazz vocal fan but she began taking voice lessons at 30 and later studied with Rhiannon, a gifted vocal improvisation teacher and brilliant singer renowned for her days with the groundbreaking all-women jazz group Alive!, and more recently with Bobby McFerrin's vocal ensemble Voicestra.

You can detect the influence of Rhiannon's gutsy qualities on deBroux's bluesier tunes, but mainly as contrasting stylistic accents. DeBroux's resonant voice sometimes recalls the masterful Sarah Vaughn, especially on the romantic material, which she handles with a modern restraint that still sustains emotional poignance."

- Kevin Lynch - the Capital Times