Daniela Nardi / The Old Mill Inn & Spa / Toronto, Canada / Oct 24th / Jazz - R&B Vocals
With
no offense intended towards the good people who hand out the Canadian Smooth
Jazz Awards and bestowed upon singer / songwriter Daniela Nardi the top
prize as the 2009 Female Vocalist of the Year, but she has far too many
facets to her music and she is far too creative to be associated with a
genre whose artists often settle for turning out mundane, uninspired
pabulum. On October 24th at The Old Mill Inn & Spa in Toronto Nardi proved
that she can swing, she sings R&B as though she invented it, pop elements
inform some of her songs and her vocals are awe inspiringly soulful. Yes
there are definite underlying “smooth” jazz grooves and vibes in some of her
songs, but those tunes are much more along the lines of artists such as
Marion Meadows and De Naté, who also are more outside the smooth jazz genre
box than they are in it.
The soulfulness of Nardi was evident from her opening number “Fugitive Kind,” from her album The Rose Tattoo, as her vocals range from mezzo-soprano to contralto, while the third song of her set, a cover of the Norwegian band Beady Belle’s “Boiling Milk,” demonstrated her versatility. The song was first introduced by Evelyn Datl’s lively playing on the electric keyboard, which established a good counterpoint to Nardi’s mellower and deeper vocal melody. The song also featured an outstanding solo by saxophonist Kenny Kirkwood and an aggressive keyboard solo by Datl who brought back memories of Laura Nyro’s playing.
Other highlights during the first set included “Crazy Jane,” from the album One True Thing a song which draws its inspiration from the poetry of W.B. Yates, and the tune “The Longest Road,” which was introduced by a segment of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream,” speech delivered in Washington in 1963. “The Longest Road,” is firmly encamped in the R&B genre and Nardi’s vocals prompted a lot of head bobbin’ among members of the audience. Electric guitarist Kevin Barrett, who was outstanding throughout the evening, was stellar on this tune, while bending a lot of notes.
Nardi talked about how even as a three year old girl she was drawn to the magical voice of romantic crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, which served as her introduction to doing a cover of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” a song that Humperdinck also covered.
There were some intense emotional moments, not contrived, but genuine, during Daniela Nardi’s performance, and the first occurred during the first set when she introduced a song written by twenty-four year old Melody Gardot, an American singer, songwriter and musician who at the age of nineteen was struck by a vehicle that ran a red light, and to this day she still has some physical as well as serious brain injuries from the accident. The song of Gardot’s that Nardi covered was the beautiful “Who Will Care For Me?” I am not sure how other people around me were responding, because this reviewer was too busy wiping the tears from his eyes.
The second song came straight out of the heart and experiences of Nardi and is from the album The Rose Tattoo, whose songs were penned during her mother’s last days on earth while battling cancer, before she passed away last year. The song simply titled “Grace,” appeared midway through the second set and was introduced by some beautiful electric keys. The words describe finding grace in difficult times and how it takes some of us a lifetime to discover. Nardi also sang “Rosetta,” a song dedicated to her mother.
Daniela Nardi nodded to her Italian heritage by singing two of Italian jazz pianist / composer Paolo Conte’s tunes, one of which was “Via con me,” a song featured in the Meg Ryan film French Kiss, and on this evening it evoked the most vigorous response from Nardi’s audience. Nardi’s husband Ron Davis, an accomplished pianist accompanied her, while sliding over from her piano bench to play accordion was Evelyn Datl. Both Conte tunes, as one might expect were performed in Italian.
Completing Nardi’s ensemble were bass guitarist Andrew Stewart, drummer Rakesh Tewari and background vocalists Krystle Payton and Don Laws.
This was an outstanding performance by a passionate singer, who was at ease in front of her audience and was supported by a very polished group of musicians. Canadians are often sadly noted for being apologetic about their recording artists, actors and those in other art forms, and during a recent conversation with rock icon Sass Jordan, neither of us could come with a reason why. Canadians should hold their heads high and be proud that you can call Daniela Nardi one of your own. Riveting Riffs Magazine is primarily an American and European publication, but its publisher is Canadian, and as he left The Old Mill, he was holding his head just a little higher after listening to such a gifted artist as Daniela Nardi.
To listen to the music of Daiela Nardi please visit her myspace website.
October 24th, 2009
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Riveting Riffs Magazine wishes to express our gratitude to the management of The Old Mill Inn & Spa for making it possible for us to review this gig, with special thanks to owner Michael Kalmar, Vincent Cotte and Fay Olson
