Daytripper: A Beatles Tribute

Her arrival in Europe raised a buzz in the jazz community. Here was an American Singer who was performing with everybody, who could sing in all styles, with an impressive, seductive swing feel I first heard Deborah J. Carter perform with a large session band: discussing Arrangements in the dressing room and then singing and improvising all tunes - Live on radio! This talented singer seemed to ignore stylistic limits, in her joyous, exuberant interpretations of songs. Since then Deborah has acquired considerable international fame. Connois- seurs and fans alike recognice her abilities as an improvisor, as a recording artist, and as a live performer. She sings around the beat, controls rhythmic push and pull, and resounds on a single notelike few others do. Most impressive is the profound way in which she inverstigates and elaborates on songs, drawing from the rich American tradition of gospel, blues, swing, bop, modern jazz and pop. A voice which, like good wine, ripens with time.

She not only mentions as favorites great classics like Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Nancy Wilson, but also singers like Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Al Jarreau, as well as modernists like Jon Hendricks and Mark Murphy, scat singers with an edge, who dare to take risks. By listening to these influential vocalists, Deborah defined and developed her own concept: between jazz and pop, between improvisation and composition, in a creative field of tension By her interpretation of Lennon-McCartney compositions Deborah demonstrates eminently the distinction between jazz and pop. Her feeling for phrasing, improvi sation, variation brings excitement in these songs which she considers part of the soundtrack of her life. ‘I was never the greatest fan of the Beatles them- selves’, she explains, ‘but compositions of their calibre are a treasure’. With a fascinating penchant for free-spiritedness she creates – in personel versions – a sparking cocktail of contrasts.

Deborah knows how to turn old chestnuts into gems, with her warm timbre and earnestness, as if she‘s singing in the intimacy of your living room. She connects phrases which do not renounce, but announce: often deviating from melodies and the gravitation of clichés. In the last tune of this albumshe provides a sover- eign manifestation of vocal delivery and expression. Her gospel version of With A Little Help From My Friends! Such spine-tingling moments are reserved for great singers only. No wonder top musicians find Deborah a pleasure to work with.

Frits Lagerwerff, music critic, VPRO Radio & TV, Netherlands

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."