Danette McMahon - No More Excuses (2024)

Danette McMahon fits into a category that is unfortunately long forgotten, that of “singer/songwriter”. This album features her own compositions, and they are all clever in terms of lyrical content and each one has some rich and wide ranging musical qualities. She sings with a confidence, using nuance more than chops, and is backed by a rotating team of Joe LoCascio/p, Anthony Sapp/b, Mark Simmons/ts, Milton Comeaux/perc, Phillip Jones/B3, PauL Chester/g, Woody Witt/ts and a handful of backing voices.

McMahon has a mature feel to her soulful and funky pieces like “ Innocent Bystander” and “Closer To My Dream” while going late night club relaxed with LoCasio on “Life Goes On” . She’s cozy with Chester and flugelhornist Lay Arredando during “You and Me” while gracefully skating with tenorist Woody Witt” on “Falln’ Deeper”. There’s a bit of sass to her delivery on the New Orleans-ish “ Naughty Girl” and she bops with a Wes Montgomery inspired Chester on the hip “Road Trip. Classy lass.~ By George W. Harris