COMPOSERS: Nikki Yanofsky
LABELS: Decca
PERFORMER: Nikki Yanofsky (voice), John Sadowy, (piano), Rob Fahie (bass), Geoffrey Lang (drums), Jocelyn Couture, Ron DiLauro (trumpet), Larry Goldings (Hammond B3)
CATALOGUE NO: 274 5425
The remarkable thing about this album from Canadian singer Nikki Yanofsky is that she is only 16, and it’s even more so considering that she performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival – to an audience of 100,000 – when she was just 12. A sparkling rendition of ‘Take The A Train’, which she sang at that concert, is accompanied here by standards such as ‘I Got Rhythm’, and a trad-jazz romp through The Jungle Book’s ‘I Wanna Be Like You’.
Musically, the album is tightly produced, almost too polished – it took two years to make – but it’s Yanofsky’s voice that shines through, demonstrating a seemingly instinctive grasp of phrasing. And despite sailing extremely close to the ‘crossover’ wind in places, there’s still enough material to reward an open-minded jazz listener. Most jazz singers dabble in the pop music of their day but Yanofsky is proving she has the making of a jazz great. Neil McKim