Kate Peters Septet - The Kate Peters Septet
(CD Review by Chris Parker)
Another graduate from that jazz hothouse, Leeds College of Music, singer Kate Peters leads a septet versatile enough to address an impressive variety of musical genres, ranging from hi-life and latin to hard bop and straightahead jazz, and her own vocal prowess enables her to inject soulfulness into standards and pop tunes alike, not to mention convincing scatting on the likes of the set-opening 'Moanin'' and its follow-up track 'Minor Blues'.
Like a number of contemporary vocalists whose models seem more likely to be from the pop/soul world, such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin or Randy Crawford, rather than Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald, Peters is more at home with material from the likes of Björk (a powerful visit to 'Venus as a Boy') and even Paul McCartney (a considered, rather touching version of 'She's Leaving Home') than with standards, and there are moments when this handicaps her slightly, most obviously on 'Love for Sale', which, set to a light latin sway, fails to convey the pungency of Porter's subtly sardonic lyric.
This said, though, this is an enjoyable and varied set enthusiastically performed by Peters and a proficient band, made up of tenor player Matt Anderson, trumpeter Ian Chalk, guitarist Aubin Vanns, pianist Zezo Olimpio, bassist John Marley and drummer Sam Gardner.
This CD is available from http://www.kate-peters.com/
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