Mood Swing by Debby Yeager

” –Bob Dorough, Composer/Songwriter

“Multifaceted influences rhythmic background through dance and musical savvy has made Yeager the vocalist to watch for in the ‘90’s.” –Jazz Connections Magazine

“One of the most versatile jazz singers in the Southland.”—The Weekender

“Yeager is solid and smooth – what a great combination!” –Jose Rizo, Jazz on the Latin Side, Radio Host

“CD Pick of the Week – Reflecting the fun and good humor that Yeager can put into a song or her warm, easy liquid ballad style with assurance in full command of the situation.” –Johnny Adams, All That Jazz, KNRY Radio, Monterey, CA

“Yeager’s charming alto voice occupies center stage with variety revealing a remarkable similarity of that of Annie Ross, crossing over from jazz to pop and back. Yeager delivers the lyrics clearly and with enthusiasm.” –Jim Santella, Jazz News, San Diego, CA

“I enjoy Debby’s take on ‘My Little Boat’ and her re-recording of ‘Nothing Like You’ with Bob Dorough is a treat!” –Peter Coppock, WDCB Radio, Chicago

“Debby is creative and this is a well-planned and produced CD. It’s going into our strong play file. I can appreciate the time and effort spent on these charts.” –Jerry Atkins, KTXK, Arkansas/NE Texas

“This young lady sure offers a fresh sound! Her choice of songs and use of Bobby Dorough as a feature on ‘Nothing Like You’ makes her fun to play and hear. Yeager’s choice of Latin rhythms add spice to an evening mix of music. Great listening for an evening’s interlude as Debby knows how to make a song appeal.” –Larry Routt, Music Programmer, WOBO Radio, Cincinnati, Ohio

“There are plenty of adept female jazz singers around, even in Southern California, but Yeager has something unique. ‘Mood Swing’ offers a solid portrait of her gifts and showcases her distinctive take on what defines the jazz palette.” –Josef Woodard, Los Angeles Times

On her live shows: “Yeager, whose recent performances have been under the banner of organizations fighting child abuse, a cause to which she is dedicated, sang for the record in her inimitable fashion. Unpretentious, earthy, she charms her audience with a relaxed but schooled approach to singing, whether it’s a jazz-like ‘Whisper Not,’ or the Brazilian song, ‘Agua de Beber.’ Her sometimes husky, sensuously voiced lyrical interpretations appeal across the board.” –Bob Agnew, “Be My Guest,” LA Jazz Scene

“Debby deserves to be seen and heard by a larger audience…I sincerely believe that with greater exposure she will become a major recording artist.” –Horace Silver, Ecaroh Music, Inc.

“As always, Debby had great players with her, and the disc is popular with both our DJ’s and our listeners.” –Helen Borgers, KLON Radio

“On one side she is a true “musicians singer” (her ears, intonation, voice quality, and musical knowledge are superb), on the other – she has the artistic talent, and experience to establish a true, humane rapport with diverse audiences.” –Milcho Leviev, Composer/Pianist

MOOD SWING LINER NOTES:

“Debby Yeager called me from out of the blue soliciting liner notes. I didn’t know her, never heard her sing and was not particularly predisposed to reviewing or writing about vocalists in the first lace. But there was something about her persuasive manner on the phone that led me to check out her tape. She told me she had produced and financed the project herself. Frankly, I was expecting the worst. Cabaret fluff interspersed with the occasional jazz standard rendered with the stiffness of someone who didn’t know Bob Dorough from Bob Barker. BOY WAS I WRONG!

Ms. Yeager delivers these 12 tunes with the inherent soulfulness and shrewd sense of syncopation that mark all great jazz singers. Her phrasing exudes a relaxed confidence and musicality that conjures up such classy singers as Annie Ross and Flora Purim. And, oh yes, she knows who bob Dorough is. He appears here singing alongside Debby on a reworking of the 1968 classic Nothing Like You.

The title of Debby’s debut, Mood Swing, is clever for two reasons. It shifts moods from Brazilian sambas to jazz standards to Latin jazz while revealing her infinite capacity to swing, perhaps best exemplified here on the breezy New Song and on her own Pucker Up, co-written with bassist Eric Stiller. She demonstrates a genuine feel for Brazilian music on My Little Boat, Reza, sung in Portuguese, and a sensual, sambafied version of the Johnny Mathis ballad Chances Are. She turns in a smoldering performance on Mark Massey’s hip Afro-Cuban arrangement of the Horace Silver classic Senor Blues (catch the quote from Wayne Shorter’s Footprints). And she even imbues pop material like Summer Dreams with a jazzy sensibility (hear her toss in quotes from All Blues and Devil May Care at the tag.) Her haunting, emotional reading of You Don’t Know What Love Is carries the pain of longing and loss. And on the lighter side she delivers True Turtle Tale, a spoken word ditty, with all the bohemian charm of Al Jazzbeau Collins.

For this auspicious debut, Debby surrounds herself with a crew of top shelf musicians. Fretless electric bassist Marco Mendoza throws down scintillating grooves on My Little Boat and Senor Blues while saxophonist Doug Webb blows some brilliant tenor on Pucker Up and the churning Latin jazz closer, Songo Mongo. Guitarist Frank Potenza offers a flowing guitar break on New Song and trumpeter Oscar Brashear, a member of the Silver Brass Ensemble, gets to stretch on Nothing Like You and Senor Blues, which also features some additional lyrics written by Ms. Yeager. Pianist Massey is prominently featured throughout and Debby herself contributes the music arrangement to The Day It Rained.

A highly satisfying first outing; and hopefully the first of many to come.” –Bill Milkowski, Down Beat Magazine

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