Juliet's Passion for Gershwin

Juliet's Passion for Gershwin

Bruce Von Stiers

Juliet Ewing is a vocalist and actor who has performed on Broadway in musicals such as Kiss Me Kat, 42 nd Street and Footloose. Juliet also had a leading role in almost 300 performances of the Ira and George Gershwin musical, Crazy For You.

It is during the run of Crazy For You that Juliet says she developed her passion for Gershwin songs. This passion led Juliet to develop and perform a solo show, Rise Up Singing- The Music of George Gershwin.

Taking that passion a step further, Juliet has recorded an album that features what has been called “jazz inflected” Gershwin songs. The title of this album is Simply ‘S Wonderful. The album was released on the HoneyDiva Music / Lexicon Classics music label.

Ron Dotros played piano on most of the songs on the album. He is a member of Juliet's band and, early in his career, worked with Gerry Mulligan. Other vocalists he's worked with include Judy Collins and Nell Carter.

Tedd Firth played piano on two of the songs on the album. He is a much in demand pianist for both live performances and recording. And he has backed up vocalists such as Melissa Errico and Lucie Arnaz.

Mark Mclean was the drummer for the album. In his early 20's, he worked with Oscar Peterson, and since then has recorded and toured with greats such as Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Billy Joel.

David Finck played bass on the album. He's worked with Rosemary Clooney and Andre Previn and recorded with both Elton John and Rod Stewart. I've reviewed a couple of his albums, Bassically Jazz and Bassic Instinct.

S Wonderful is the first song on the album. An often-recorded Gershwin tune, Juliet does a great job with it.

Love is Here To Stay / They Can't Take That Away From Me is the second offering on the album. It is a nice melding of the two songs.

I've Got A Crush On You has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Linda Rondstadt, Diana Krall with Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald. Juliet sings this very soft and gently.

Oh, Lady Be Good is fun and toe tapping.

For the song, Slap That Bass, Juliet sings a style similar to the one that Ella Fitzgerald did when she recorded it. But I still like the originating version done by Fred Astaire in the film Shall We Dance better.

Next up is But Not For Me. This song has been done by vocalists from Bing Crosby to Elton John. But Juliet brings her own touch to the song.

The Man I Love is a soft and gentle song that has been recorded by people such as Ella Fitzgerald.

A Foggy Day starts out slow and easy then moves onto a toe tapping tempo.

The Lorelei has vocal ranges from soft and gentle to bold and strong.

Embraceable You is another often recorded Gershwin song. Juliet does well with her rendition.

Naughty Baby is a slight head bopper with fluid vocals.

I Got Rhythm is one of the more popular Gershwin songs, having been recorded by numerous artists. The line “who could ask for anything more” was even used by Toyota in car commercials. Juliet is great on this song, and the musicians really step up too.

The album closes with Summertime. This soft and gentle aria styled song is done wonderfully.

Juliet Ewing has done extremely well with her renditions of classic Gershwin songs. She even included one of my favorite Gershwin songs, I Got Rhythm. I felt that Juliet presented concise and fluid interpretations of each Gershwin song.

Simply ‘S Wonderful is available at music outlets such as Amazon and Spotify. You can also order the album directly from Juliet at her website. That website is https://julietewing.com/

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