Reviews

Singer Rebecca Kilgore’s A Little Taste showcases her wonderful delivery, accompanied by a stellar lineup of musicians. The album features Dan Barrett on trombone, Dick Titterington on trumpet and flugelhorn, Randy Porter on piano, Tom Wakeling on bass and Todd Strait on drums, among others, creating a rich backdrop for Kilgore’s performances. A string sections […]

Ever since she made her recording debut during 1981-83 and particularly since the early 1990s, Rebecca Kilgore has been one of jazz’s top swing singers. Her inviting voice, impeccable articulation, friendly personality, perfect placement of notes for maximum swinging, and complete understanding of the lyrics that she interprets have put her at the top of her field. Unfortunately her serious health problems have resulted in her retirement. Prior to the release of A Little Taste, her last recording was in late 2020[...]

There's good news and bad news with this long awaited album from Portland, Oregon, singer Rebecca Kilgore. The good news is that this recording is as good as, or maybe even better, than her previous fifty-plus. 'Becky' has such a beautiful voice, tailor-made for interpreting Dave Frishberg's clever lyrics. A tribute by one 'great' to another. So what, I hear you ask, is the bad news? Well let me tell you...

Congratulations are in order to the splendidly swinging Rebecca Kilgore Quartet (formerly known as B E D) — a very gratifying group that has just completed its first decade of appearances, recordings, and accolades.  They are Rebecca Kilgore, vocals and rhythm guitar; Eddie Erickson, vocals, guitar, banjo, and hi-jinks; Dan Barrett, trombone, cornet, arrangements, vocals, piano, and travelogues; Joel Forbes, string bass.

As Ms. Kilgore began practicing the songs she would include in the show, she constantly fought the tug toward imitation. “I would find myself doing that pouty, come-hither wispy style that’s so easy to imitate,” she said. “I had to keep telling myself that I’m not going to imitate her. I’m going to do a — quote, unquote — jazz singer’s interpretation.”

Sad to say, the most famous anecdote about the relationship between jazz and country music involves Buddy Rich on his deathbed in 1987. Before his final surgery, the story goes, the legendary drummer was asked if there was anything he was allergic to. Without missing a beat (he never did), he responded: "Yeah, country music."

Rebecca Kilgore may just be the greatest singer you've never heard of, but you're not entirely to blame. For reasons known only to the city's booking agents, Ms. Kilgore almost never appears in New York; for her to do three shows at Feinstein's for the second July in a row is, for her, a veritable whirlwind of metrocentric activity.

Rebecca Kilgore is a singer specializing, although not exclusively, in classic songs of the middle decades of the twentieth century. She loves Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, Burke & Van Heusen, Dorothy Fields, Cole Porter, Dennis & Adair, Johnny Mercer, Duke Kilgore 2.jpgEllington, Fats Waller. Dick Titterington, Kilgore’s husband, is a trumpeter who leads a post-bop quintet. Much of his repertoire comes from Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Tom Harrell, Joe Henderson, Harold Land, Thelonious Monk and from the members of his band, PDXV.

The Jazz Singers is an overview of the great vocalists who have sung jazz. In addition to covering the key singers from the past, Scott Yanow puts a strong emphasis on the current jazz scene where there are scores of talented vocalists. By drawing on original interviews conducted exclusively for this book, along with Yanow's extensive knowledge, The Jazz Singers offers fresh and insightful information in its 521 main entries. Other features include a historical overview, a section on Jazz Vocal Groups, and a comprehensive list of Jazz in Film. This definitive history, covering the years from 1911 to 2007, will be a valuable resource and an enjoyable read for decades to come.

Rebecca Kilgore’s musical collaboration with composer and pianist Dave Frishberg began in the 1980s and included a five-year run at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon, among many other engagements. Following Dave’s death in 2021, Ms. Kilgore and her husband, the talented arranger and trumpeter Dick Titterington, undertook the recording of a tribute album.

Sometimes we feel ridiculously small when we discover an artist and learn their story. That’s the case here. Since I received this album and did my research on this artist, I struggled to find a way to talk about it. Indeed, I came across her website, where these few words appeared at first glance… ‘Jazz Vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. On October 30, 2024, Cherry Pie Music will release Rebecca Kilgore’s *A Little Taste: A Tribute to Dave Frishberg*. Recorded in 2023, before Becky’s illness prompted her retirement from performing, the album features radiant new arrangements of nine songs by the late Dave Frishberg...

Rebecca Kilgore’s ‘Jazzy Side of Judy Garland at Feinstein’s by Stephen Holden.

From a distance, the show at Feinstein's this week appears to be a musical tribute to a nonmusical icon—the most famous face in the history of American culture. Yet right off the bat, singer Rebecca Kilgore and tenor saxophonist Harry Allen prove that, as with Fred Astaire and Shirley Temple, there is indeed a Marilyn Monroe Songbook, a unique body of music that's no less hers than her own celebrated body. Ms. Kilgore disavows any similarity with the late Marilyn, but they have more in common than she admits: an upbeat, sunny personality, a sweet sound and, as performers, a kind of inner glow that illuminates whatever screen or stage they're on. Yet while Monroe's singing was "better than all right," in Irving Berlin's memorable phrase, she never quite broke your heart with a song. Ms. Kilgore is doing just that at least six times a night at Feinstein's.

Portland is renowned for a lot of things: curbside gourmet delicacies, concerted environmental concern, spectacular roses, great microbreweries. But it is only recently, since the advent of the superbly programmed Portland Jazz Festival in 2004, that the hipster mecca north of San Francisco has earned a wider reputation as a jazz hub. Actually, Portland’s jazz roots are quite deep, and among the strongest of those roots is vocalist and (occasional) guitarist Rebecca Kilgore.

“I am not a Billie Holiday imitator,” the jazz singer Rebecca Kilgore remarked on Monday evening at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, where she and the Harry Allen Quartet performed “Lady Day and Prez: A Musical Tribute to Billie Holiday and Lester Young.” “But if you ever did want to hear one, David Sedaris on the radio does a great imitation.”

A new CD by the group formerly known as B E D is cause for celebration. Although this quartet (by common consent) has shed its coy acronym to be known simply as the Rebecca Kilgore Quartet, their musical essence — swinging, tender, witty, surprising — has not changed except to get better.

Rebecca Kilgore/Dave Frishberg—Why Fight The Feeling?: Songs by Frank Loesser (Arbors)