Tell us more about your work with Mr. Dale

 

Mr. Dale & I were always in touch and when I inquired about recording a CD he offered to arrange the songs, USE of his recording studio and that he would also produce the album.  I would travel from Orlando to Naples virtually every weekend for about a year (that’s a 3 hour trip one way by the way!) to record “Baby, I Feel Like Jazz Tonight.”  It was finally completed in April 2000 and includes such timeless numbers as The Song is You, Good Morning Heartache, If I Were A Bell, Lover Man, This Masquerade and more.  Recording that CD was one of the most exciting times of my life.  I just felt like I was making some grand contribution to the music world (LOL).  I mean these are songs that have been recorded by every great standards vocalist in creation.  Yet, every time, any time you hear a new take on any of them, it stirs your heart.  It doesn’t matter what kind of singer you are:  Ella influenced, Billy influenced, whether you’ve got that deep smokiness of Nina Simone or the snap of Dinah Washington, when you hear a new chick singer take a stab at old classic, it grabs you.  I think I touched a few hearts, if I may say so myself.