Victor Fields - 52nd Street (2002)

The select listener of jazz vocals will find Victor Fields engaging, charming, and irresistibly appealing. On the critically acclaimed 52nd Street, Fields convincingly demonstrates an unforgettable tableau of 11 wonderful songs from the jazz, pop, blues, and Brazilian jazz genres in which the listener can delight. Accompanied by an array of jazz stars, including Jeff Lorber, this is simply a superb recording due to Fields' flawless vocals, poetic imagination, and soulful phrasings on such songs as "Maria," "And I Love Her" featuring Gerald Albright, the smooth jazz rendition of "A Night in Tunisia" featuring Chris Botti, and "Open Your Heart" featuring the Oakland Interfaith Youth Gospel Choir. Victor Fields has marvelously timed his lyrics to compliment the breathtaking manner of saxophonist Albright and trumpeter Botti with his masterful tenor range and tells two exceptionally well-told musical stories that are filled with colorful nuance, imaginative shadings, and sensual scattings. Fields and Claudia Villela brilliantly transform Toots Thielemans' "Bluesette" into a Brazilian samba that is both lyrical and buoyant. With 52nd Street, Victor Fields' sensuous, sexy, but sunny vocals have put many jazz vocalists in the shade. Top pick: "Five-Two Blues" featuring John R. Burr.~© Paula Edelstein /TiVo