Deanna Bogart - Real Time (2006)

Maryland's Deanna Bogart is an explosive live performer, mixing in several streams of American vernacular music into her sets, ranging from funky R&B romps to hushed, Norah Jones-like jazz-pop ballads, and she just happens to be a dynamite barrelhouse piano player who also plays a pretty mean tenor saxophone, as well. Her versatility is truly astounding, and while it might be safe to say that everything she does grows out of the blues, to label her a blues artist doesn't even begin to cover the half of it. On Real Time she offers up a typically varied program of New Orleans R&B, late-night blues, smoky jazz ballads, a touch of country, and some rousing boogie-woogie piano instrumentals, but what keeps it all stitched together is her strong, sultry singing. Highlights include the rocking opener, "Real Time," the loping, wise "Everybody Has a Story," the lovely and classic "Blue by Night," the late-night jazz of "Blues in the 'Bine" (where Bogart's sax playing gets to shine), and the storming piano instrumental "Bite the Bullet." It's easy to be distracted by this wide range of styles, and given Bogart's explosive piano skills, to view her as a blues piano player first and foremost, but what gets lost in the shuffle is the fact that this lady can sing (and write, as well -- all but two of these ten tracks are Bogart originals), and if some marketing wiz out there can ever figure out how to package all this talent into a form that the mass public can recognize (how about as a funkier Norah Jones?), then Deanna Bogart has a good chance to be a household name. Meanwhile, her albums get tossed in the blues bins, and she truly deserves a wider audience.