Do you have to be a great scat singer to be a great jazz singer? Neither Frank Sinatra nor Billie Holiday scatted much, but both are among the greatest jazz singers of all time. Still, brilliant vocal improvisation sure doesn’t hurt, as the Canadian-born singer/pianist Carol Welsman proves on several tracks of her new album, Alone Together. Welsman, a six-time Juno nominee with an international following, scats in a way that discloses a keen harmonic sense and complements her highly proficient piano playing. She combines the two in her uptempo, hard-bop treatment of the Sinatra standard “Day By Day,” scatting along with a soaring, rewarding piano solo. And her a cappella scat introduction to the title tune is a knockout. Great scatting is just one of the tools in Welsman’s arsenal on this, her 11th album. Backed by a stellar band—bassist Rufus Reid, drummer Lewis Nash, trumpeter Wallace Roney and guitarist Jay Azzolina—she displays unerring taste with her choice of material, bringing a spot-on reading of Eddie Jefferson’s “Disappointed” (a vocalese version of Charlie Parker’s solo on “Lady, Be Good”) and an exquisite version of “Killing Time” by Jule Styne and Carolyn Leigh.
Review by Allen Morrison