Dee Daniels - Wish Me Love (1996)

For singer Dee Daniels, getting to sing with the Metropole Orchestra on this recording must have been the realization of a dream of a lifetime. Influenced by R&B, gospel, and Sarah Vaughan, Dee Daniels (who had spent a period of time living in Holland and Belgium in the 1980s, admiring the Metropole Orchestra from afar), Daniels does her best on eight soulful standards and two of her originals, singing over the huge orchestra with arrangements by Rob Pronk and John Clayton. Best are "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Tonight I Won't Be Singing No Blues," and "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." Daniels' way of singing has been mined by many but she does it quite well, putting her own brand of soul into each phrase. ~ Scott Yanow