Jazz vocalist Jaana Narsipur’s refreshing new album, “The Re-Collection,” shows that she has obtained a successful niche in the jazz and pop fields. She shows versatility in doing a variety of material ranging from Swing Out Sister to Sting, Peter Gabriel to U2 and much more. She makes a solid statement with her well-sung jazzy pop arrangements by pianist/music director Nicki Adams and herself, surrounded by a top-flight instrumental cast including New York based musicians like drummer Joe Abba, bassist Marco Panascia, and others coloring several tracks with trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, violin, viola and cello. The impressive collaborators include tenor saxophonist Sean Nowell, trumpeter Wayne Tucker, trombonist Alex Jeun, violinist Meg Okura, violist Hannah Selin, and cellist Laura Masferrer. Okura’s technical abilities shine on the noteworthy cover of Annie Lenox and Dave Stewart’s “Her Comes the Rain Again.”  Standout tracks opening and closing the album with a brassy feel include Breakout, Holding Back the Years, You Can’t Get What You Want and Sister Moon. Towards the midpoint of the set, the effervescent strings on Behind Closed Doors, Love and Anger and Here Comes the Rain Again make for more relaxed, contemplative sounds and feelings.  

Jaana has been performing and teaching in New York for the last 12 years. She completed her Masters in Jazz Performance at The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, New York where she studied with J.D. Walter, Charenee Wade, and others. Previously, Jaana studied at the Conservatory van Amsterdam. She completed her Bachelor of Music at Northwestern University, and her Master of Music Education at DePaul University, both in Chicago. Since the 1990s, she’s been a music educator in public schools in Chicago, New York City, and now Westchester County NY where she makes her home with her husband and two children. Jaana also maintains an active private voice studio for beginners and advanced students.

A warm and sophisticated album, I was probably most impressed with Narsipur’s interpretive ability and striking delivery of the material with her own timing, tone, phrasing and musicality. “The Re-Collection” is an expressive and enjoyable project that showcases Narsipur’s confident music vocabulary and interpretive talents for songs from the latter half of the 1980s. The album’s warm balladry, cohesive arrangements, and sumptuous qualities have earned it very worthy places at #4 on The Roots Music Report’s Weekly Jazz Album Chart, as well as #1 on our Weekly Crossover Jazz Album Chart. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)