Jacintha Goes To Hollywood

When seeking Jazz, Malaysia isn't likely to be on many people's lists of possible sources. Yet that is where vocalist Jacintha hails from.

Born Jacintha Abisheganaden in 1957, to a Chinese mother who sang and Sri Lankan father who played classical guitar, Jacintha got into music at an early age. Her experiences included periods with the Singapore Youth Choir as well as leading several solo albums. To date, she has recorded thirteen albums as a lead vocalist. Jacintha Goes to Hollywood presents fresh takes on nine songs from movies.

Jacintha delivers "On Days Like These," from The Italian Job (1969), in elegant style. With a saxophone solo by Ricky Woodard and arranger Iskander Ismail on piano, the vocalist is easygoing, but passionate in this lounge singer offering. Jacintha brings more of the same with "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), complemented by Larry Goldings on piano, a guitar solo by Anthony Wilson and skillful drum work by Joe LaBarbera. Jacintha's soft alto voice helps this track from being just another cover song.

The bossa nova arrangement of "Windmills of Your Mind," from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), gets juiced up during the instrumental break. With Wilson and LaBarbera setting the pace, Ron Stout delivers a high-energy, muted trumpet solo not unlike Freddie Hubbard, before the song reverts to its primary rhythm. Goldings plays the Hammond B-3 organ on the subdued rendition of "California Dreaming." Goldings and Wilson have the solos.

Aaron Serfaty brings the congas for the charming "A Man and A Woman," a ballad from the 1966 French film of the same name. Jacintha captures the spirit of original but adds her personal touch. Goldings, appropriately, brings the accordion for "Que Sera Sera," from The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Jacintha's cover isn't as lighthearted as the hit sung by Doris Day, but her tone does justice so that the words don't lose any of their positive meaning.

After a 3 year absence from the recording studio, Jacintha returns with a new album titled Jacintha Goes to Hollywood. On the new release, the singer from Singapore performs 9 classic songs from the movies with help from a group of Jazz all-stars and arrangements by guitarist Anthony Wilson and pianist Iskandar Ismail. (Wilson is well known for his excellent DSD releases on Groove Note as well as his work backing singer Diana Krall).

As with past Jacintha albums, this one is produced by Joe Harley and Groove Note owner Ying Tan and engineered by Mike Ross. It was recorded in “all analog” at 15 ips using two inch 24 track masters. The master tapes were mixed to 1/2 inch 30 ips Stereo by Joe Harley and Mike Ross at Sunset Sound in Hollywood. These analog master tapes were transferred from analog to Direct Stream Digital (DSD) by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado.

When you pick up an album that was recorded by Joe Harley, Michael C. Ross, and Ying Tan and mastered by Dave Glasser, the odds are pretty high that the music will be superbly recorded. That is certainly the case here. Jacintha's crystal clear vocals are wonderfully captured on this release along with the excellent playing of the Jazz stars on this album. The music is thoroughly enjoyable and the arrangements by Anthony Wilson and Iskandar Ismail are very creative. Highlights included The Windmills of Your Mind (with Organ, Guitar, and Trumpet), A Man and A Woman (with Electric Piano, Bongos, and Vibes) and Que Sera Sera (with Accordion and Guitar).

Played through the excellent EMM Labs Meitner DAC6se 6 Channel Multichannel Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), it was hard to believe at times that I was listening to a disc rather than a live performance! Now that is the mark of a well-done release in my book.

Jacintha delivers lyrics with such precision that it's easy to forget she's a well-known actress in Singapore. The tunes are all from hugely popular movies. No effort was made to include an obscure discovery or two.

Jacintha's backing band is always top-flight and this one is no exception. Guitarist Anthony Wilson, who has a couple of killer albums on Groove Note, is a standout. Jacintha works very close to the mike for a sexy and intimate sound something like the jazz thrushes of the 1950s. She is the No. 1 jazz vocalist with many audiophiles due to her and Groove Note's high technical standards.

I haven’t been able to afford to go to the movies in ages, so I have no way of knowing whether what the current state of film soundtracks is, but back in my day, the movie theme song was a big part of the experience. Jacintha remembers those days and has come up with an album of jazz versions of songs from films that will find you thinking "Hooray for Hollywood."

A teenaged TV talent show winner in her native Singapore, Jacintha later studied creative writing at Harvard before making a name for herself in the Far East as a singer and actress. She showed her lifelong love of jazz with the release of two well-regarded jazz albums, one a tribute to Ben Webster and the other to Johnny Mercer, for Groove Note Records. She has released three more jazz albums in the last few years, including "The Girl From Bossa Nova."

Jacintha Goes to Hollywood features a stellar cast of musicians, including drummer Joe Barbera, bassist Darek Oles, trumpeter Ron Stout and the ubiquitous Larry Goldings on Hammond B3 organ, piano and accordion. With compelling arrangements by pianist Iskandar Ismail and guitarist Anthony Wilson, Jacintha sings several songs from movies in a smooth melodic and refreshingly straight-forward fashion. Eschewing the vocal pyrotechnics, weird utterings and off-the-wall arrangements that sometimes mar many modern singers attempts to make their mark on or improve songs, the entire cast simply sings and plays, sings and plays well and allows the songs to speak for themselves.

The songs are more of the pop variety and not ones you would usually associate with jazz, but their melodicism is well-suited for the considerate treatment they are given. Lesser known tunes like, "On Days Like These" (from The Italian Job), "Easy Living" (from Chinatown) are blended with ones like the oft covered "Alfie" and "The Summer Knows" (from The Summer of 42). Others, like "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and "Que Será Será" are unusual choices in that they often are considered to be cheesy and utterly square, but surprisingly the listener may discover a new regard for their charm due to the serious presentation Jacintha and her band give their strong melodies.

Jacintha gives a nice and straight-forward version of "A Man and A Woman" that shows her talent for the Brazilian style, while her slowed down version of "California Dreaming" is a bit of a surprise. And The Thomas Crown Affair’s "Windmills of Your Mind" is a solid centerpiece to an album of enjoyable and relaxing melodies that may cause you to dig out your old soundtrack albums and VHS tapes to catch Steve McQueen or Doris Day in Technicolor once again.