Record date: July 25 and August 1, 1989
Mal and Italian female singers…. there was really something between them. This was not his first, nor would it be his last recording with one. This time it’s Tiziana who sings. Fortunately not Tiziana Simona but Tiziana Ghiglioni who really is better singer in my humble opinion. Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava also joins in with his warm and lyrical trumpet playing.
Composition wise there aren’t a lot of surprises. The repertoire consists out of standards only, most of them are affiliated with Billie Holiday in some way. Tiziana has a warm and very feminine voice. She has a soft voice and is pretty accesible in that way. Mal accompanies her in the way he can accompany a singer: thoughtful chords an backings in support of the singer. Rava interacts with both Mal as with Tiziana, playing sweet lines in the background an playing solid solo’s. In no place this is a shocking album, it’s all very straightahead and a bit predictable. My main problem with these kind of albums is that it seems to kill the creativity of the other band members. Both Rava and Waldron really just play nice but don’t have an opportunity to shine. They do have some nice moments together on ‘You Don’t Know What Love is’. Rava’s warm and lyrical tone blends very well with Mal’s moody backings. And Mal’s solo is beautiful here. Part from that, it’s a bit dull at times. That probably also has something to do with the safe compositional choices. It also misses a bit of emotional depth. Where Billie could really touch or thrill me, Ghiglioni can not.
But… she can definitely sing and has a pleasant voice. I would enjoy her presence if she was singing in a local restaurant or something. This one is in the 11cd Soul Note box but copies of the issue itself are also still widely avaible. Soul Note fails to mention that not every song is in trio form. There are also duo's and a solo.
Definitely one of the better vocal albums from the ’80’s. Not bad but just not really my cup of tea.
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