I didn’t know much about bluesily rigorous singer Nicole Yvette before listening to Say Yes – Bright Fame **** – today. Once hearing it I certainly wanted to know more and she isn’t even overshadowed by the famous guests. The singer hails from Carson, California and she later has lived in Seattle working with pianist Shawn Schlogel there.
There are plenty of famous names joining her including found on ‘Crossing Over,’ which on it has organist Larry Goldings, and the title track features reliably compelling Blue Note vibraphonist Joel Ross – the Steve Nelson of his generation. There’s a vocal duet with Kurt Elling on ‘Such Is the Love,’ trumpet work from Keyon Harrold and more. Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington is on ‘Inuka Uangaze’. The ballad ‘If I Could,’ appears twice on the record, in arrangements by pianist Paul Cornish first with the full band and later as a piano-vocal duo.
Standards are Cole Porter’s ‘Night and Day,’ arranged by Geoffrey Keezer with Dawn Clement on Moog synthesizer, and Bob Thiele and George David Weiss’ ‘What a Wonderful World,’ arranged by Clement. Super stuff – like me if you like René Marie circa Sound of Red then you will be in your element.