2014 was a stellar year for vocal jazz music, a year where singers both pushed the genre into new territory and looked within. On this show, we’ll look back on the year by listening to some of the 2015 Grammy Award Nominees for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Traditional Pop Album.
For the Jazz Vocal category, it was a year dominated by innovative and talented female singers. We’ll hear an intimate portrait with jazz guitar by Tierney Sutton, and a bold statement from one of jazz’s leading voices, Dianne Reeves. Also in this category: two tributes to two very different female artists. René Marie's latest release, I Wanna Be Evil, is a tribute to the great Eartha Kitt, and Billy Childs's latest, Map to the Treasure, is a jazz tribute to New York singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. We'll highlight a track featuring Esperanza Spalding along with Wayne Shorter.
In the traditional pop category, we'll look at two albums: Nostalgia, where 80s new-wave icon Annie Lennox reinvents herself once again, this time using the Great American Songbook; and Cheek to Cheek, one of the most talked about collaborations of the year between legendary crooner Tony Bennett and artpop darling Lady Gaga.
