| |
|
|
“The Twin Cities most popular jazz/pop singer has outdone herself
here. Clearly this is a project close to heart, because that’s where the
music seems to come from time and time again. Duncan - always a swinger and
belter of the first rank – shows a side of herself here that her family and
friends probably know, but that doesn’t always come out in her music. She is
tender, romantic, sentimental, caring – dare we say sweet? She sings a
wonderfully varied repertoire of carols and pop sounds – some serious, some
spiritual, some strictly for fun, including several outstanding lesser known
numbers. There are some excellent arrangements – mostly by Adi Yeshaya – and
a cast too large to mention of outstanding Twin Cities jazz musicians and
singers”
- Bob Protzman, St. Paul Pioneer Press
Debbie Duncan the Twin cities
(First Lady of Song) as she is so often referred to by media people and club
owners and dj's is a stunning and versatile vocalist who captivates
audiences and jazz musicians. Minneapolis Star Tribune reports "Duncan is
quite simply the star of the show....she's superb on funky upbeat workouts,
tender ballads an all kinks of jazz numbers; she energizes the ordinary and
puts her stamp on just about everything she does." While opening for Herbie
Hancock at the famed Guthrie Theater (1400 seats) she received a standing
ovation (rare for an opening act) . City Pages newspaper reported that "she
blew away the crowd." She has received rave reviews for opening for Stephane
Grapelli, Lou Rawls, Joe Henderson, on one of Miles Davis last concert she
receives another standing ovation. Duncan has also sung on Jimmy McGriffs CD
"In a Blue Mood" where her track of Dr. Feelgood was one of the most played
tunes on that CD. She has sung with Bobby Watson and Roy Hargrove, Bobby
Lyle, (the late) Jack McDuff Dee Dee Bridgewater ,Mark Murphy ,Chicago's
legendary Von Freedman and Rebecca Paris.
Duncan has won every award that Minnesota has ever given a vocalist,
multiple times. She was awarded P.O.P. (Perpetually Outstanding Performer)
at the Minnesota Music Awards - the first of it's kind ever given. "Duncan
is a dynamic and distinctive vocalist" Jazz Times Review.
As I listen at this moment Debbie Duncan is spinning her song cycle. And
from these Monday depths Duncan is stirring an emotional pot. Her voice and
her message, keenly phrased and hauntingly intoned, ring out those feelings
which have been riding underground for so long. Whatever your life
experience - at first opportunity take time to place this Debbie Duncan
program in review. Then listen! and listen again! Debbie is a master
messenger deserving wider recognition.
Add too a salute for her colleagues all under the direction of Adi Yeshaya
and Anthony Cox.
- Leigh Kamman, The Jazz Image (tm) - Minnesota Public Radio
Commanding Debbie Duncan will
take over solo spotlight.
She loves Ella Fitzgerald - her clear tone, her skittering scat - and she
pays America's jazz and pop classics with the same kind of loving attention
as her idol. But once you head Debbie Duncan, right, you probably won't
think of any other singer" She's that commanding.
Duncan, who earned raves opening for Herbie Hancock at the Guthrie Theater
earlier this year and at the Minnesota Music Awards show last month, is
smooth at the pitch of a whisper or the head of a fever.
Familiar to habitues of Rupert's night clubas one of the featured singers in
its excellent house band, she also has been a frontliner on the vocal
quartet doing the "Great American Songbook" programs at the Dakota Bar and
Grill in St. Paul Minnesota's Bandana Square.
- Star Tribune "Topics" Best bets
THAT OLD RADIO JAZZ IS BACK
Twin Cities vocalist Debbie Duncan, will be featured tonight with jazz star
Roy Hargrove's Quintet in the Midwestern segment of a national broadcast on
National Public Radio.
"And now, from the Highatop Ballroom, high atop the beautiful Mark Mark
Hotel in downtown.
New Year's Eve, 1940, the satin voice of the announcer would go on,
announcing the name of the band and it's first tune, as the music rose in
the background.
And when the New York broadcast ended, the scane would shift to Chicago, the
on to San Francisco, and the folks at home could share the magic of the
year's turning with people from coast to coast.
Welcome back. For several years now, National Public Radio has produced one
of those coast-to-coast New Year's Eve broadcasts featuring top
entertainers.
One detail has changed, however, the Midwestern segment originates not from
Chicago, but from the Dakota Bar & Grill in St. Paul Minnesota.
Twin Cities vocalist Debbie Duncan will be featured this year with national
jazz star Roy Hargrove's quintet. It will be the third year that Hargrove
has worked New Year's Eve at the Dakota, but the first time he's brought his
entire band along. Their radio segment will run 90 minutes, beginning at
11:30pm.
The broadcast will begin at 9 p.m. local time, with singers Lou Rawls and
Marlena Shaw performing in New York, then shift to the Dakota and finally on
to California for performances by Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Joey De
Francesco Quartet.
Broadcasted on WCAL-FM (89.3) in the Twin Cities.
- Jim Fuller, Star Tribune VARIETY section.
Roy Hargrove rings in new with an invigorating blend of tradition and
innovation. (With Debbie Duncan)
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove ushered in1993 at the Dakota Bar & Grill in St. Paul
Minnesota on Thursday night with a commanding concert that belied his
youthful age- 23 - as surely as the afterglow of his performance rebutted
the subzero temperatures outside.
The current renaissance in jazz stems from a wealth of young players
grounding themselves in the roots of the music asa prelude to forging their
own distinctive style. But even among this youthful elite, Hargrove's blend
of tradition and innovation stands out.
Over the course of his 100-minute closing set at the Dakota one could hear
in his sound the driving lyricism of Clifford Brown and the crisp intonation
of Freddie Hubbard. Live, Hargrove's brash tonality becomes even more
evident, until it is reminiscent of the late Roy Elkridge.
But both musically and personally, Hargrove did not comport himself with the
academic rigor of someone like Wynton Marsalis. instead he drew upon
visceral spunk and melancholy to enliven the discipline of his technique.
The result was ceaselessly invigorating set that began with bluesy
introspection in "Yesterdays" and closed with the swaggering "Blue For booty
Green's." On his solo during "If I Were a Bell," Hargrove blew a long hard
note that wavered and snapped like a flag in the wind. On "Lawra," a tune by
Tommy Williams, Hargrove went to a flugelhorn for its more burnished and
introspective tone. And on "Caryisms," a song he wrote for his pianist, Marc
Cary, Hargrove's solo hewed to the spirit of the rhythm's gutbucket funk.
- - As midnight struck a half-hour into the set, local vocalist Debbie
Duncan joined Hargrove for "Auld Lang Sine" and two other songs. Hargrove
and Duncan had previously celebrated the arrival of 1991 and 1992 at the
Dakota, with Hargrove serving as special guest star in Duncan's group. But
on Thursday, Hargrove's backing quartet was on hand and the concert was
aired live nationwide on National Public Radio.
Duncan capably explored both the carefree and wistful aspects of "September
in the rain," borrowing liberally from Ella Fitzgerald and betty carter. And
she tore into Duke Ellington's "I ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues" with
humor, panache and crowd-pleasing firepower, prompting an incendiary solo
from Hargrove along the way. It was the highlight of the evening.
- Britt Robson, A Twin Cities based free-lance reviewer.
LATEST WORK: Habitués of Twin Cites music clubs can hardly miss the
ubiquitous Debbie Duncan. The singer arguable is - to quote from "Sweet
Georgia Brown" - the hardest working gal in town.
"I've had a day or two off now and then, but that's about it," laughs
Duncan. the Energetic and eclectic vocalist can be heart at Nostalgia
Restaurant and Jazz Bar, Minneapolis, Thursdays through Saturdays, and at
Bunker's in Minneapolis Monday and Tuesday nights' and on Sunday she does a
gospel brunch from 1:30-3 p.m. at Nostalgia and sings from 5 to 7 p.m. at
the Dakota bar and Grill in St. Paul Minnesota with the D.E.Y.
(Duncan-Bernie Edstrom-A-di Yeshaya) Big Band.
THE STORY SO FAR: Duncan came to the Twin Cities in 1985 from Los Angeles to
join Rupert's Orchestra. Born in Memphis, reared in Detroit, Duncan recalls
that as a toddler whenever her jazz and blues-loving parents weren't home,
she's play their records and get up on a table and sing and dance in front
of a mirror. Duncan began singing jazz professionally while a student at
Wayne State university in Detroit and continued after moving to L.A. in
1976.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS: "I will always be dealing with music from a lyric
standpoint. Even if it's saying I love you 29,000 different ways it's got to
say something. And I've always considered myself not just a singer, but also
an entertainer. I like to snap my fingers and wiggle my leg, you know?"
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: A Duncan scrapbook would include opening for renowned
jazz pianist Herbie Hancock's trio in 1989 at the Guthrie Theater and for
the late jazz legend Miles Davis (with members of Mambo's Combo) in April
1991 at Glam Slam.
WHAT'S NEXT: Always looking for that proverbial "break" to launch her career
on a national level, Duncan is excited about the opportunity to gain
valuable exposure by singing on Ney Years eve at the Dakota with noted
trumpeter Roy Hargrove's group. The performance will be broadcast nationwide
on National Public Radio. (NPR) She's also going into a local studio soon to
record an album with the D.E.Y. Big Band.
- Bob Protzman
Jazz Heiress
It's no secret that the Twin Cities are blessed with a wealth of
vocal talent - both domestic and imported. If you were among the wise ones
who caught one of both of the Herbie Hancock Trio shows recently at the
Guthrie, you were treated not only to Hancock's near-flawless set, but also
to the striking vocal talents of one of our top imports, Debbie Duncan. but
then, if you've been to the Dakota Bar and Restaurant recently, especially
for the Sunday evening gigs, then you already know this, right?
Fine. But there just may be a few things that you don't know about this very
engaging, forthright, steeped-in-Ella jazz vocal dynamo. Such as how she got
started in the first place. "Being raised on jazz with my mom and dad,
that's all I listened to when I was first introduced to music," she says.
"The commercial stuff came later, from going to school and being around my
peers. But I started off with jazz, from listening to records that my mom
and dad played for me - Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Wiliams, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen
McRae, Gloria Lynne, Dakota Staton, Mel torme, ray Charles, Chris
Connors..."
Duncan was raised in Detroit, during the height of that city's roost at the
top of the pops. When her turn at the mic came, she made the move to Los
Angeles. About four years ago she found herself at a crossroads, which led
her to the Twin Cities. "Pete Johnson and I had trio together in L.A., and
he moved back to Minneapolis. He called me and said Rupert's was opening up,
and asked me to come here for six weeks to take the place of a couple of
ladies [The Steele Sisters] who were going to do The Gospel at Colonus.
"So I said, "For six weeks I could probably handle this." When I got here I
found out the people I was supposed to replace [temporarily] weren't going
to be coming back. [Rupert's] gave me what I needed and I said I'd stick
around for a while. I'm still at Rupert's four to five night a week."
While Rupert's gig falls under the category of bread and butter, certainly
it doesn't offer a budding jazz singer the freedom and opportunity to show
off her best chops on a regular basis. Without much coazing, Duncan will wax
rhapsodic on her most obvious influence-Ella Fitzgerald.
"She's always been amazing to me. Her concept, as far asscat singing is
concerned - she's the queen of that. Her voice, especially early Ella,
reminded me of me, and I don't mean that like I'm Ella Fitzgerald. nor do I
want to be a reproduction of Ella. But there's sort of a little girl-ish
quality in her voice, that impishness. Her voice is always so clear, and I
like clear voices. I don't necessarily have the clearest voice in the world,
but voices like that will always attract and grab my ear."
It took the help of one of this area's other
talents-deserving-wider-recognition to help hone Debbie's skilled voice and
the abundant energy into the superb program she presented at the second
Guthrie show on Hancock night. The talent in question is bassist/arranger
Gary Raynor, with whom Duncan, Pianist Don Stille and drummer Gary Gauger
have been working with for about two and a half years now. "Over the course
of time, there are some things that we put set arrangements to. What we did
[at the Guthrie] was take the best and spice up the arrangements a little
bit more. We just decided to revamp quite a few of the tunes we've done,"
says Duncan.
Raynor figures prominently in the Great American songwriters Sunday night
gigs at the Dakota, which have featured Duncan prominently. "If nobody's
heard of Gary Raynor, they will before it's over. Besides the fact that he's
an excellent bass player, he's got this mind that's always going, always
coming up with ideas.
"He's not the first person to come up with the Great American Songbook
[concept], but he is one of the only people in this area that say back and
said let's do something like that; couple of some singers that have never
sung together-with the exception of Bruce Henry and myself, because we both
worked at Rupert's. But I'd never sung with Carol Martin, or Lucia Newell.
And it has turned into a really good quartet."
This Sunday (February 12) is your last opportunity to catch what ahs bee a
six-week tribute to the music of George and Ira Gershwin. "This show is
different from the last one because we have Gary Gilson doing the narration
for it on the Gershwins. Then we're going to finish the Cole Porter, and the
Rogers & Hart songbooks for the last two Sundays in February. We're going to
go back to the drawing board and see what we're gong to come up with next.
we've got a list of writers."
While playing Rupert's and the Dakota, Duncan is busy at work on her own
recording project, which will be the first under her own name. Enter the
K-Tel people, those purveyors of miscellaneous gadgets and records on
television. Seems they've entered the jazz recording market (on high quality
CDs I might add), and they've expressed great interest in recording Duncan.
None of it seems to intimidate Duncan. "I'm going to have a real keyboard,
real drummers, and real bass players - I want acoustic music. I get scared
with the music industry because they're trying to fade away from that and
it's a dangerous thing," the singer declared.
"I've started picking out the material. I was originally going to put an
album out this year, one way or another, even if I had to do it myself. As
it stands right now K-Tel has a new jazz label and they've approached me
about being on the label," declares the ebullient Duncan. Whether she
pursues the K-Tel deal or not, she's confident of one thing: "You'll hear
from me a lot this year."
- Willard Jenkins
"Once you hear Debbie Duncan, you
probably won't want to think of any other singer,she's that commandind...
smooth at the pitch of a whisper of the heat ofa fever."
- Jim Fuller, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Duncan's a terrific entertainer... But more than that, she's a superb
singer - probably the finest in an area that boasts some excellent female
vocalists... She showed just how good she is.. when she tackled ballads,
be-bop, blues to some scat choruses reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan and finally
to a concluding soul shot.. She sang with abandon, yet with control which
most singers never learn.
- Bob Protzman, St Paul Pioneer Press.
"Her voice, like the garments she often wears, is full of shimmering
gold threads, intricately woven around rich dark textures and warm honey
tones."
- Roane Shepperley, Midwest Jazz
"A jazz vocalist of exquisite taste and restraint"
- Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"If you were among the wise ones who caught the Herbie Hancock Trio
shows recently at the Guthrie, you were treated to the to striking vocal
talents of Debbie Duncan"
- Willard Jenkins, City Pages.
(Also Executive Director to the National Jazz Services
Organization, Washington, D.C.)
"I don't think there is such a thing as a suo-par performance by the
versatile Duncan"
- Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Debbie Duncan, the powerhouse singer from Minneapolis, stole the show.
She belted out big songs and purred on the quiet ones, and she grasped the
audience in the palm of her hand."
- Sioux Falls Leader
"Duncan is a dynamic and distinctive vocalist"
- Jazz Times Review
|
|
