Melissa Stylianou: Them There Eyes
Musicians:
Melissa Stylianou (vocals),
Artie Roth (bass), Alan Hetherington (percussion), Kevin Breit (guitar)
.Composed by Maceo Pinkard, William Tracy, and Doris Tauber
.Recorded: Toronto, Oct. 6-11, 2005
Rating: 92/100 (learn more)
“Them There Eyes” is one of the hokiest, silliest tunes in the American popular songbook, and only a fool or a genius would try to bring it to life today. (Speaking of genius: I still recall with delight Jimmy Rowles and Al Cohn deconstructing this song in a now-forgotten recording from thirty years ago – someone please get that disk back into print!) But the very stylish Stylianou rises to the occasion, and tosses everything from surreal scatting to Middle Eastern modes into this vibrant performance. This vocalist is one of the best-kept secrets in jazz, but secrets like this deserve to be shared.
Reviewer: Ted Gioia
Tags: them there eyes
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