Antoinette Montague has a new album that's coming out shortly. It's Behind the Smile (In the Groove). Now I've gotten a bit of a dose of "jazz singers" in the recent past, and I find that there are many out there who don't quite have the talent or instrument to qualify.
Based on her new CD, however, Antoinette Montague doesn't displease. She is accompanied by a quartet that can play accompaniment and swing out with good soloing, and her choice of repertoire is not cliched. There's "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," OK, but it's given a kind of New Orleans marching lilt. Then there are the lesser covered numbers, like Brubeck's "Summer Song," Big Bill Broonzy's "Give Your Mama One Smile," Duke's "23rd Psalm," and a soul classic or two, like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On."
Her voice is drenched with the blues, has nice nuances in pitch, is dead-on for intonation, and has an appealing sound.
I've been disappointed by many contemporary singers, but not Antoinette. If you like the genre I think you'll dig her and the latest CD.
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