Thirty years ago, Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Famer Nancy Kelly honed her vocals accompanied by a variety of Hammond organists at Jewel’s, a salt-and-mostly-pepper nightclub on Philadelphia’s Broad Street. When she returned to CNY, she worked more often with pianists. One of them was Dino Losito.
One day, Losito switched his keyboard to the Hammond B-3 sound, and a light bulb flashed. The result is a dynamic 12-track disc called “B That Way” featuring Losito on the Hammond organ.
While tenor saxman Jerry Welden and guitarist Peter Bernstein get a fair share of lead action on the instrumental breaks, Losito makes the organ growl, notably on the opener, “Come Back to Me,” and the boppy “Billie’s Bounce.” Throughout, Losito also plays the bass lines while Buffalo-born Carmen Intorre keeps time on the drums.
Kelly and Losito both turn up the heat on ballads like “Common Touch” and “Good Morning Heartache,” and turn in a delightful, devil-may-care version of “Please Don’t Talk about Me When I’m Gone,” an apt homage to two of Kelly’s big influences, Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae.
On this, her fifth album, Kelly’s voice cuts like a stone-sharpened knife.
The recording at Tedesco Studios in Paramus, N. J. and the mixing at Hobin Studios in Baldwinsville polished the product in a way that lets Nancy’s voice to sound more present than ever. The effect brings every nuance and hint of emotion to the forefront, as though she’s singing right there in the living room.
“B That Way,” pressed on Kelly’s own Blue Bay Records label, shows off the singer the way she is: a self-assured artist with a heart of gold and the voice of a hep archangel; nancykelly.com.
