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Thisbe Vos: Under Your Spell

By Edward Blanco
May 7, 2013
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A Southern California Girl with a love of standards and romantic music, Thisbe Vos is not your typical female vocalist performing

Louis Prima

trumpet and vocals
1910 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Prima/

" data-original-title="" title="">Keely Smith duets in a jazz band. Born in the Netherlands, Vos began exploring music by playing the harp and doing musical theatre and only after joining the British swing band, The Jive Aces, did she begin to embrace the style of love songs, ballads and swing that are the focus of her music. Her debut album Sophistication (CDBABY, 2011) featured an equal balance of standards and originals as does Under Your Spell demonstrating the singers talents as a songwriter. It's quite obvious by the selection of standards and the original compositions penned for this album that Vos, is enamored with the idea of romance and her lyrics, voice and music, are just the right magical mixture required for a spellbinding musical experience.

The sprite original "Shanghai Blues" gets the program going and features reed man

Geoff Nudell

clarinet

" data-original-title="" title="">Geoff Nudell accompanying Vos on a whistling clarinet solo. While the singer performs with a sharp septet, there are a few tracks where her ballad style love songs are backed up by The Pasadena String Ensemble and none as beautiful as the romantic title piece. The Theloneous Monk classic "Round Midnight" is another tune enjoying a string-laden musical atmosphere demonstrating the vocalist's affinity for ballads. The first of her well-chosen standards is "I Thought About You," a rendition that provides Vos with an opportunity to reach the high notes as well as highlighting musical director and pianist

Gary Matsumoto

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Matsumoto .

There is an array of highlights here including "That's All Right With Me" where the singer's gorgeous vocal shares the stage with tenor saxophonist

Carl Randall

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Carl Randall, "He's A Tramp" where the melody is catchy and the tempo light and breezy and the swinging, almost raunchy "Just A Fool Over You" where

Nolan Shaheed

trumpet
b.1949

" data-original-title="" title="">Nolan Shaheed's muted trumpet sets the mood. Irving Berlin's "Always" and Fats Waller's naughty "Ain't Misbehavin'" rounds out the program capping a fine vocal offering. Gifted with a silky voice and a knack for writing love songs, Thisbe Vos is an exciting vocalist who sprinkles a little dust of magic on Under Your Spell romancing her way into your heart and delivering an enchanting vocal performance.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

1. Shanghai Blues (Thisbe Vos) - 2:29; 2. Under Your Spell (Thisbe Vos) - 5:02; 3. I Thought About You (Jimmy Van Heusen/ Johnny Mercer) - 3:26; 4. That's All Right With Me (Thisbe Vos) - 4:54; 5. I Need You (Thisbe Vos) - 3:29; 6. Round Midnight (Thelonius Monk/Bernie Hanighen) - 3:07; 7. He's A Tramp (Peggy Lee/Sonny Burke) - 2:56; 8. Now You Are Here (Thisbe Vos) - 4:50; 9. Just A Fool Over You (Thisbe Vos) - 4:29; 10. Rue de la Huchette (Thisbe Vos) - 3:35; 11. Always (Irving Berlin) - 5:14; 12. Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller/Harry Brooks/ Andy Razaf) - 2:34

Personnel

Thisbe Vos

vocals

Gary Matsumoto

piano

Henry Franklin

bass

Donald Dean

drums

Nolan Shaheed

trumpet

Carl Randall

saxophone, tenor

Geoff Nudell

clarinet

Michael Higgins

guitar

The Pasadena String Ensemble played string arrangements on three songs (arrangements by Jim McMillen). Geoff Nudell additionally played alto clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and alto flute.

Album information

Title: Under Your Spell | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Prime Productions

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