Reaching for the Moon (album)

Reaching for the Moon is the third album by jazz singer Roseanna Vitro, released in 1991 on the CMG label. Vitro explores a number of genres, accompanied by pianist-arranger Kenny Werner and a varying cast of featured and supporting players,[6] including saxophonists George Coleman, Joe Lovano and Kirk Whalum, drummer Tom Rainey, bassists Harvie Swartz and Ratzo Harris, and percussionists Mino Cinelu, Steve Berrios and Café.[4]

Reaching for the Moon
Studio album by
Roseanna Vitro
ReleasedJune 1991 [1]
RecordedSkyline Studios, New York, N.Y.[2]
GenreVocal jazz, Brazilian jazz
Length57:22 [3]
LabelChase Music Group
CMD 8030 [4]
ProducerPaul Wickliffe [1]
Roseanna Vitro chronology
A Quiet Place
(1987)		 Reaching for the Moon
(1991)		 Softly
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
CD Reviewfavorable[5]
JazzTimesfavorable[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
External audio
You may listen to "You Are There" here

Reception

AllMusic's retrospective review awards the album 2½ stars out of 5. While acknowledging Kenny Werner as "an under-appreciated pianist" and affirming that Vitro herself "is in good voice throughout," reviewer Ken Dryden portrays the album as a less than ideal showcase for their talents, citing both the "strange engineering" of vocals (causing "a slow fade which proves to be very distracting") and a perceived over-reliance on "bland synthesizer" on many tracks.[3]

By contrast, contemporaneous reviews by JazzTimes and CD Review were uniformly positive. The latter judged Vitro's attempt to emotionally engage her listener a "Bullseye," citing both "the supple power of her phrasing" and her voice's "sensual[ity] and intens[ity],"[5] while JazzTimes proclaimed:

Roseanna Vitro does reach for the moon, and yanks the brass ring. Vitro introduces us to new tunes, sings deeply in many styles, scats refreshingly, and works with mobile combos under the aegis of agile pianist/arranger Kenny Werner. Vitro is full-voiced, good spirited, and abrim with a yearning grace.[6]

Commending Vitro's relatively straightforward delivery (in contrast to a previously detected tendency towards sometimes distracting vocal flourishes), Los Angeles Times critic Zan Stewart also made note of the singer's "impressive Brazilian feel," as well as "Kenny Werner's ace accompaniment" and "vital saxophone solos from George Coleman and Joe Lovano."[7]

Track listing
  1. "I Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You" (Les McCann, Jon Hendricks) - 6:09
  2. "In a Sentimental Mood" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Manny Kurtz) - 6:37
  3. "Canção do Sal" (aka "Song of Salt") (Milton Nascimento) - 5:44
  4. "Reaching for the Moon" (Irving Berlin) - 5:08
  5. "In the Name of Love" (Kenny Rankin, Estelle Levitt) - 4:14
  6. "The Island" (Ivan Lins, Alan and Marilyn Bergman) - 5:56
  7. "You Are There" (Johnny Mandel, Dave Frishberg) - 5:48
  8. "Gathering Stones" (Kenny Werner) - 5:57
  9. "Yesterdays" (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) - 5:30
  10. "Slow Hot Wind" (Henry Mancini, Norman Gimbel) - 6:19

Personnel

All information derived from Jazz Music Archives.[4]

References
  1. "Discography". RoseannaVitro.com. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  2. "Reaching for the Moon (Musical CD, 1991)". WorldCat. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  3. Dryden, Ken. "Roseanna Vitro: Reaching for the Moon (Overview)" Allmusic. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  4. "'Reaching for the Moon' Roseanna Vitro". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  5. "Roseanna Vitro: 'Reaching for the Moon'" CD Review. Volume 8, 1992. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  6. "Roseanna Vitro: 'Reaching for the Moon', Chase Music Group (57:40)" JazzTimes. 1991. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  7. Stewart, Zan. "New Releases" The Los Angeles Times. September 1, 1991. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
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