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Reviews for Evolution

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Phil Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner
"She Takes Singing To New Heights"

Kitty Margolis', new recording, "Evolution" (Mad-Kat CD) is the best vocal jazz disc in years. Margolis (along with Bud Spangler, Monty Montuori and Gary Mankin) spent a year producing "Evolution" and it shows. Margolis is a jazz singer because she immerses her voice, her soul, in her instrumental group. She's not singing in front of the band, she's part of it-and they respond in kind.

Buy this CD and play "I'm Old Fashioned," a tricky Jerome Kern melody with typically complex Johnny Mercer Iyrics. With Joe Henderson providing magnificent sax accompaniment, Margolis creates a mini masterpiece. Henderson appears on five of the disc's selections-"Ancient Footprints" (Wayne Shorter); "Nothing Like You," (Bob Dorough, Fran Landesman); "Firm Roots" (Margolis and Cedar Walton) and "Gone With the Wind" by Allie Wrubel. Henderson plays better on these than on some of hls own award winning discs. - On "Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Someone Else Is Steppin' In," Margolis is joined by blues guitar soloist Joe Louis Walker, Kenny Brooks on tenor and Tom Peron on trumpet. 'Please Send Me . . . " is a heart wrenching presentation. Cooling's guitar, and a bit of vocal, contribute to Latin-based "Tristeza de Amar" and to the CD's title track. Throughout, the magnificent Dick Hindman, on piano, is joined by bassist Seward McCain and drummer Gaylord Burch.

Margolis handles "Anthropology" like a trumpeter (Diz?); on "Midnight Sun," the Hindman trio accompanies; on "You Don't Know What Love Is," only McCain's bass gives support; Hindman is the solo accompanist on Bergman's "Where Do You Start?" Margolis varies the melody here and there, skips from lyrics to scat and back, duets with one or another instrument and seems to be having fun.

She has worked with myriad big jazz names over the years-Lionel Hampton said of Margolis, "The next great jazz voice"; "Let us all welcome Kitty Margolis to the scene!" said Jon Hendricks.