Laverne Butler
Blues in the City
(MaxJazz)

Carla Cook
It’s All About Love
(MaxJazz)

Asa Harris
All in Good Time
(MaxJazz)

Christine Hitt
You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
(MaxJazz)

The voice may be the instrument in jazz that receives the least amount of respect. Yet, when I listen to the 1950s version of Ella Fitzgerald scatting along with the Duke Ellington Orchestra to “Cottontail,” I am as amazed by what she was able to do with her vocal instrument as I am by Ben Webster’s stirring tenor saxophone solo on the same recording. When Richard McDonnell decided to launch the label MaxJazz out of St. Louis in 1997, he reckoned correctly that the record buying public would be more likely to snatch up a series of vocal jazz releases than they would instrumental recordings. McDonnell himself played clarinet and saxophone as a young man and remained a lifelong devotee of jazz though he worked for nearly two decades as an investment banker. Using his business acumen and refined musical taste, McDonnell kicked off the label in June of last year by releasing records by vocalists Laverne Butler, Carla Cook, Asa Harris and Christine Hitt. Butler, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, and alumni of the University of New Orleans jazz program, was an excellent choice for launching the new label. Her record Blues in the City features mostly standards like Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” Bessie Smith’s “Backwater Blues” and Ann Ronnell’s “Willow Weep for Me.” Her style is most often compared to that of the late Dinah Washington. An awareness of the importance of the lyric is apparent as one listens to Butler’s buttery vocal antics. Her greatest strength seems to be her ability to deliver each tune with superb rhythmic phrasings and colorful, intimate tones while drawing attention to the full impact of the meanings contained in the lyric.

While many jazz standards like those featured on Blues in the City have persevered because of their sheer beauty and genius, Butler is nevertheless able to revive and update these time-honored tunes by infusing them with a turn of the century sensibility and an urban blues sound as the album title suggests. My only real criticism of the album concerns Butler’s decision to use two back-up singers on some of the tunes since it is clear throughout that her own voice could easily carry each of the songs on the album without any assistance. For the most part, Butler’s label-mate Carla Cook avoids this pitfall on her record It’s All About Love. Both Butler and Clark’s records have achieved impressive record sales by jazz standards, but Cook has the added distinction that her recording was nominated for a Grammy this year in the vocal jazz category, pitting her against favorites like Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson.

But Cook holds her own among these women. One can tell a lot about a Vocalist’s ability just by noticing the caliber of musicians who agree to work with him or her. On It’s All About Love, Cook is accompanied by well-known pianist Cyrus Chestnut on eight of the eleven tunes and red-hot violinist Regina Carter makes an appearance on two tunes. In the past, she has also performed with the likes of instrumentalists Lionel Hampton, Roy Ayers, Greg Osby and Don Byron.

One of the best songs on the recording, “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)” features an arrangement by Lonnie Plaxico, bassist extraordinaire and long-time sideman to Cassandra Wilson. Cook, who is often compared to the late Betty Carter stylistically, is a versatile and capable vocalist. Her renditions of “The Way You Look Tonight” and “These Foolish Things” are impeccable. Born and raised in Detroit, Cook does not hide from her roots—her cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” is downright soulful. Her backgrounds in gospel and classical music are put to good use on songs like Rodgers and Hart’s “Where or When” and the traditional hymn “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand.”

Like Cook, Asa Harris is a confident and capable vocalist who really delivers. Harris is perhaps the most experienced of all the four MaxJazz vocalists. She has performed as both a singer and actor for over three decades and music has always been a part of her life. Her father, Ace Harris, was a pianist and arranger for the Original Inkspots in the 1930s and her uncle, the great Erskine Hawkins, triumphed as a trumpeter during the swing era and penned the classic “Tuxedo Junction.”

Harris’ rich and full voice is coupled with an impeccable sense of timing. Her record All In Good Time features standards from throughout the jazz canon, including a rendition of her uncle’s own “Tuxedo Junction” from the swing era, moving on to an uptempo version of Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale” before tackling the bebop era with a stirring rendition of  “Lullaby of Birdland.” Each of the 13 songs on the record are delivered intimately and effortlessly, exhibiting Harris’ maturity and versatility.

The final CD, Christine Hitt’s You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, holds its own among this group of capable and talented vocalists as. Hitt makes her recording debut with this album. She both sings and plays piano in the tradition of many great jazz vocalists. The disc features reinterpretations of songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart and Duke Ellington. Hitt’s voice is pristine but soulful and she demonstrates great skill as a scat singer, a talent one does not often find among young vocalists today. She is clearly influenced by the late Sarah Vaughan and she does her mentor justice as she scats through “Joy Spring” and “What is This Thing Called Love.” Like all of the discs in the MaxJazz vocal series, Hitt’s offering is both engaging and accessible. This debut is an impressive introduction promising the listener that more great offerings from Hitt are on the horizon. Each compact disc also features a bonus CD-ROM video track showcasing each vocalist performing live in a club or in the recording studio. The series, which has received much praise and acclaim, is a fitting debut for the St. Louis-based MaxJazz label. The label plans to release several more recordings later this year. While the first four discs somewhat conservative focus on vocalists and jazz standards has been highly rewarding, one hopes that the success of these recordings will spur the label to be a bit more adventurous with its follow-up offerings. Yet, the old adage “If it ain’t broke…” may be appropriate here.