I Double Dare You
Turtle Bay, 2021
8/10
A very exciting collaboration, the jazz piano legend Terry Waldo and the esteemed vocalist Taitana Eva-Marie join forces to interpret jazz and pop songs from the ‘20s and ‘30s with their charming and frisky delivery.
“Do Do Do” starts the listen with soulful and smooth sounds that goes back 100 years with its ragtime flavor, and “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home” follows with warm keys, expressive singing and timeless jazz qualities entering the heartwarming climate.
In the middle, the swift and playful “Be Sweet To Me” will get you headed for the dance floor, while “The Very Thought Of You” moves cautiously with a ballad like presence of agile piano and emotive brass. “I Double Dare You”, one of the album’s best, then has the pair putting their own festive spirit on the 1937 classic.
Nearing the exit, the energetic “Runnin’ Wild” sounds it should soundtrack a night at a speakeasy, and “Two Sleepy People” exits the listen with a lovely duet that’s bare, pretty and illustrates a precise intimacy.
Eva-Marie might best known as the front woman for the Avalon Jazz Band, and Waldo spent portions of his lengthy career playing in the Gutbucket Syncopators as well as The Gotham City Jazz Band. Together, they bring an impressive amount of talent to songs that most of us have never heard before, but will want to hear again and again now.
Travels well with: Pokey LaFarge- Rock Bottom Rhapsody; Rebecca DuMaine And The Dave Miller Trio- Someday, Someday