Pam Bricker - U-Topia (CD)

All Music Guide

A transplanted Massachusetts native, Pam Bricker has been performing in the Washington, D.C., area since 1981 and has made a name for herself. In addition to being a solo act, she was also part of the vocal group, Mad Romance. She has also shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Louis Bellson and D.C. jazz institutions Charlie Byrd and Buck Hill. Bricker shares the bill with Wayne Wilentz and Jim West on U-topia which is named after the watering hole on U Street in D.C. where Bricker has a regular gig. The set offers a sumptuous, extensive, and eclectic play list of classic standards, Brazilian jazz, bop anthems, traditional pop, and a song or two made popular by rock performers, as well as some Bricker originals. More important than the agenda is that the singer has the vocal wherewithal to stay on top of the material irrespective of genre. She is tender and romantic on "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," with her father Peter Bricker doing the Tommy Dorsey trombone. Bricker's i...nterpretation of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," Joni Mitchell and Charlie Mingus' farewell to Lester Young, pushes the emotional buttons the composers built into the tune. "Superstar," immortalized by Karen Carpenter, is sweet and melancholy and is one of the highlights of the album and also features imaginative piano ruminations by Wilentz. Bricker demonstrates her expertise with the vocalese style on Thelonious Monk and Jon Hendricks' "I Mean You." This is one of the few places where she indulges in scatting, doing with it with verve while trading ideas with drummer Jim West. Bricker is blessed with absolute pitch, clear diction, better than average range, a knowledgeable sense of the lyrics, and a feel for the beat all packaged in a clear, cool set of vocal pipes. These attributes are used to full advantage on this fine vocal album, which is highly recommended. - Dave Nathan, All Music Guide Read more Less