Rebecca Kilgore - A Little Taste a Tribute to Dave Frishberg (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

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Rebecca Kilgore - A Little Taste a Tribute to Dave Frishberg (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

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Sometimes we feel ridiculously small when we discover an artist and learn their story. That’s the case here. Since I received this album and did my research on this artist, I struggled to find a way to talk about it. Indeed, I came across her website, where these few words appeared at first glance… ‘Jazz Vocalist Rebecca Kilgore. On October 30, 2024, Cherry Pie Music will release Rebecca Kilgore’s *A Little Taste: A Tribute to Dave Frishberg*. Recorded in 2023, before Becky’s illness prompted her retirement from performing, the album features radiant new arrangements of nine songs by the late Dave Frishberg, plus two numbers that Becky and Dave often performed together. Subscribe here for updates and more information.’ Then I exchanged a few emails with Kari from Kari-On Productions, who is promoting the album. In that email, her first words were, ‘Thank you, this will be Rebecca’s last album. She is battling cognitive decline…’ I had my starting point, which matched my impression upon the first listen, even before researching Rebecca Kilgore: this album is a kind of artistic testament, knowing it will be her last. Even though I wasn’t familiar with her other albums, I found it to be a touching interpretation, a musical patchwork that feels like slices of life, between joy and nostalgia, with a voice that sounds almost carefree, perhaps a sign that Rebecca Kilgore has come to terms with her illness. We are therefore moved by the progression of the tracks and the themes she evokes. It is a beautiful album from an artist who has had a wonderful career: *In 2020, Rebecca Kilgore was named Portland Jazz Master by PDX Jazz, Portland’s nonprofit organizer of jazz concerts and the annual Biamp Jazz Festival. She is honored to have been inducted (in 2010) into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and the Jazz Society of Oregon’s Hall of Fame, and to have been invited to perform at New York’s Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention for three years at Town Hall and Lincoln Center. She was the guest of honor at the 2013 Roswell Jazz Festival and was honored as a Jazz Legend at the San Diego Jazz Party in 2016.

Although it may seem very traditional, this album is not. In fact, Rebecca Kilgore’s talents as an interpreter and the way she places her voice give a modern touch to the music and lyrics, music that fluctuates between film scores and musicals, unfolding over 11 tracks. We regret that we can no longer appreciate such talent on stage. Then suddenly, I realized that her name was not completely unfamiliar to me. Indeed, we’ve been working with the ACT label for a long time, and I had enjoyed *Echoes of Swing – Winter Days at Schloss Elmau with Rebecca Kilgore* on the German ACT label in 2018, an album you can purchase HERE. It’s the only album she has with this prestigious label. Overall, throughout her career, Rebecca Kilgore has released around twenty albums, including this last one.

*A Little Taste* is an incredibly charming album. This tribute to singer and composer Dave Frishberg, who as a pianist accompanied artists like Carmen McRae, Ben Webster, Eddie Condon, and many others, deserves all the praise. You can find more information on his official website HERE. Do not think that our judgment is influenced by the artist’s illness, but rather the overall quality of this recording is highly appreciable and well deserves to be included in our list of ‘Indispensable Albums!’