Jenny Evans - Gonna Go Fishin' (2001)

English singer Jenny Evans covers a wide range of material in this live recording made at Munich's Jazzclub Unterfahrt. The rich-voiced alto conveys her emotions with powerful renditions of "The Man I Love," "Black Coffee," and "Angel Eyes." She has a lot of fun with the Duke Ellington-Peggy Lee collaboration "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" and scats up a storm in Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments." She contributed the lyrics to Dusko Goykovich's "Love Is the Answer" and arranged it with an Afro-Cuban flavor while just as easily switching gears to the exotic Middle Eastern sound of Rabih Abou-Khalil's "Still She Dances," with some more fine scatting, along with sensational drumming by Guido May and additional percussion by Biboul Darouiche. Evans' adventurous spirit and clear diction add to the value of this very enjoyable CD. ~ Ken Dryden