AMIKAEYLA SHOWS SHE CAN DO IT ALL ON 'BEING IN LOVE'

In July, I told myself I wouldn’t listen to another jazz album by a jazz singer because I was burnout on them. So far, this year I’ve received  more than one human being should be asked to digest in a lifetime. I wondered if jazz singers, particularly female jazz singers, had cornered the jazz market. 

Honestly, Amikaeyla, most of the albums were pretty good, especially Kathy Kosin’s To the Ladies of Cool and Halie Loren’s Heart First. (Loren has put out two this year come to think of it.) So, if I’m burnout on jazz singers, why am I bothering you?

Three weeks back RootsJazz Records sent me a copy of your new album Being in Love. It’s excellent like Kosins’ and Loren’s albums, and I’m going to tell my friends who’re jazz heads to get a copy now that it’s for sale. This is the first time I’ve spent time with your voice. 

Unlike many of your peers, you’re hard to categorize because you sing gospel, blues, adult contemporary, and R&B with equal proficiency, and that’s hard to do. Many of your peers are so one dimensional. I bet you can even rap if you had a mind to. Your voice is hospitable, and I felt right at home with it.

Of the 10 cuts on Being In Love, I replayed Lovely Day co-starring Sheila E and Esperanz Spalding the most. Hambone was a close second. I Know You by Heart could make warring spouses fall in love again. As I stated before, I had my fill of jazz singers, but Being in Love has done a world of good for my spirits.