Jazz written in the late 50's a la Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughn. All songs by Bobby Sharp (Unchain My Heart)

11 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Jazz Vocals, JAZZ: Big Band



Details:
Once again, spunky vocalist Natasha Miller teams up with 81-year-old songwriter Bobby Sharp (Unchain My Heart, Don't Set Me Free), and this time, sheâs got an album of destined-to-be jazz standards that outdoes everything she's produced to date.

The new CDâDon't Moveâ(scheduled for a March 28, 2006 release) features 11 songs written by Sharp, most of which have never been recorded before. That makes this album something of an historic event in its own right. What makes it a musical eventâof the first orderâis Sharpâs songwriting, Natashaâs gift for flawless phrasing, and stunning arrangements penned by a group of musicians whose roots go deep and whose talents run to the top of their classâpianists Bill Bell (Duke Ellington, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson), Larry Dunlap (Cleo Lane, Mark Murphy), Ellen Hoffman (Oakland East Bay Symphony, Linda Ronstadt), and Josh Nelson (Peter Erskine, Ernie Watts). Some of the arrangements call for a 3-piece horn section and a string ensemble to augment Natashaâs jazz trio. âItâs only a 9-piece band, Miller says, âbut the arrangements are so full and the band so tight, I sometimes think Iâve got The Stan Kenton Orchestra or Nelson Riddle and his strings behind me.â

Sharpâs songwriting, as always, demonstrates his impeccable talent. He possesses an uncanny ability to unify the elements of his songs so they tell moving stories with a profound simplicityâalways with style and grace (and sometimes, with a good bit of humor). Those elements, along with the energy Natasha brings to each song, make music you just canât get enough of. In fact, the title of the albumâDonât Moveâis not just lifted from one of the tracks; youâll find it personally compelling. When you listen to it, you simply wonât want toâmove, that is. âBobbyâs a genius, a one-man Mercer-and-Arlen team,â Natasha says. âHis work will go down in the songbook of great American classics.â

As she has in all her previous work, both live and recorded, Miller again demonstrates she can sing anything put in front of her (possibly even the phone book). Her voice harbors a rich palette of colors, sometimes sassy and insistent (âDonât Set Me Free,â âDonât Moveâ), sometimes sultry and ironic (âAt Midnight,â âYou Donât Have to Learn How to Sing the Bluesâ), and sometimes wistful and longing, as in the haunting âSnow Covers the Valley,â with its hint of the tragic realities found in old Irish ballads. But even when sheâs âA Prisoner of the Blues,â thereâs no crying in her beer here. These are songs for grown-ups rendered by a 34-year-old artist who knows that even though fate may often deprive us from what we want, we keep on going anyway. What Natasha does is to bring these qualities together with finesse and power, delivering each song to the listenerâs doorstep, where they donât beg for entry, they come as familiar guests. Put all this togetherâvocal color, a tone that runs from hushed to fills-up-your-heart, a touch of attitude, range and powerâwith Natashaâs natural gift for just the right lyrical timing and you wonder how these songs could be sung any other way.

As if thatâs not enough, thereâs the remarkable âsoundâ of the recording itself, due in large measure to the fact the album was produced at Skywalker Studios (George Lucas) in Northern California and engineered by the highly-respected Leslie Ann Jones. When you get that much talent under one roof, both in front of the mikes and behind the board, wonderful things happen. The group recorded all 11 tracks in a day and a half. Most were âdownâ on the first take.

Natasha produced thisâher fourth albumâand is funding it through her independent record label Poignant Records based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her previous release I Had a Feelin' (also a collection of Bobby Sharp tunes) was well received by jazz radio (charting in JazzWeek), and played by jazz programmers around the world. I Had a Feelin' has garnered local and national media attention and has sparked a movie production deal about Natasha and Mr. Sharp, as well.

And the band? It includes all the West-Coast musical heaviesâLos-Angeles-based pianist Josh Nelson, and from the Bay Area, John Shifflet/upright bass, Tim Bulkley/drums, Rob Roth/saxophone, Jeff Lewis/trumpet and flugelhorn, Adam Theis/trombone, Liz Prior Runnicles/viola, Emil Miland/cello, and Natasha/violin.

Don't Move is a CD with a rich array of color and emotion, bringing another segment of Bobby Sharp's songbook to life. Thereâs music here for everyoneâa little bit of the blue and the noir and a whole lot of up-tempo, foot-stompinâ surprises. Thereâs also the touching duet, âAs the Years Come and Go,â sung by Miller and Sharp, a love song written by Sharp in younger years, now a testament by these two friends to their remarkable personal and musical partnership.

Natasha is one of the Bay Areaâs busiest performers and regularly sells out Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland. She made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut on Sept 18, 2005 with her 9-piece band to a standing-room- only audience who honored her with 2 standing ovations.