Vitro’s cross fertilization

By George W. Harris


It seems like we’ve come full circle. Back in the 60s, the leading artists in the music scene rebelled against the labels of pop, jazz and even classical, and combined all genre’s in creating label-resistant music. Yet, now, here we are, back to what we initially turned away from; music that for the most part must give homage to the Great American Songbook. Pity the singer that dares to veer from the rivulet created by Gershwin, Berlin, Porter and the like! Singer Roseanna Vitro, who has had her share of celebrating tunes that have made Sinatra and Bennett famous, has decided to go against the grain and use material from more contemporary sources.

Vitro’s latest release “The Delirium Blues Project”, is an in-concert recording in which she and longtime musical partner/keyboardist Kenny Werner brought together musicians like James Carter, John Patitucci and Randy Brecker in order to explore the songs in which she actually grew up hearing. Those used to her singing standards, Bill Evans Ballads and Brazilian Bossas are in for an invigorating surprise. Vitro, currently in New York at the Blue Note singing songs from the likes of Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, and Esther Phillips, seems invigorated by her new creation. She explains, “My new recording for Half Note really took me back into the time machine. Jeff Levinson, the producer who signed me over, said, “I think it’s time to do an alternative repertoire.” We looked back at what’s going on in jazz today. The Standard American Songbook, the George Gershwin, the Cole Porter, that’s really never going anywhere. Singers such as myself are always going to be into that book and exploring different songs that speak to me at the time. You always choose your material depending on how you feel as a person. But now, as you can see with other musicians like Bill Frisell going back to (the rock era), or Herbie Hancock winning a Grammy for the Joni Mitchell, the scene is changing.”

“She was at a time period when people were passionate about what was happening back then. We’re interested in protest songs again. So, when Jeff said, let’s look at different songs. Well, me, who’s sung with Elvin Jones and George Coleman, and other great musicians, we started looking at material recorded by Janis Joplin, Horace Silver, Mose Allison and Nina Simone. At the same time, I’m opening up the record with Tower of Power’s “What Is Hip?” When I gave it to Kenny, he said, “Look, no one is going to do that song better than Tower of Power.” But d that wasn’t the point. Kenny is a brilliant arranger, so this recording is all about the songs from the earlier folk/rock/pop era, along with some straightahead jazz, all through the prism of Kenny’s brain, which is wild and vast.”

Like a few other vocal visionaries, Roseanne feels that the tried and true is turning into the tired. The ironic thing is that since man has been on earth, he has thought that earlier times for culture was better than the present. Even the sage Solomon warned “Do not Say, “Why were the former days better than these?” Vitro agrees, stating, “There are so many wonderful singers out there, and the market is flooded with them. If you hear somebody singing “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” then you think, “That’s a great song, but maybe there should be a moratorium on these songs.” I pride myself in finding jewels. Not that many people have recorded “In The Dark”, as I did as a bass and vocal duo with John Patitucci. That was one Nina Simone did many years ago. It’s haunting and spooky. We’ve got James Carter on the disc. The arrangement for “What Is Hip?” speaks volumes on what can be done with a song. He took a hard driving thing, and turned it into a Miles Davis/Kilamanjaro floating/dripping horn sound with Randy Brecker. So cool. And Adam Rogers- I didn’t even know his work until this record. I am now the biggest Adam Rogers fan; he’s all over this record. He’s a phenomenal guitarist. He goes from Pat Martino to Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Just amazing.”

Coming up with a modern canon of material from her own generation’s era of music was a labor of love. She states, “I must have listened to 100 songs. Bob Dylan. Cream. I listened to all of Joplin songs to figure what I could say. I chose “Half Moon”. In that song, I heard it slower and spooky. Kenny wrote an alternate melody line, and opened it with an Indian drone. I improvised over it, so it takes it back to the Indian influence of the Beatles. Kind of a psychadelic thing. That’s what happening big time. Singers are doing Sting songs, or “Like a Rolling Stone.” I think there is a search for an alternative repertoire. It’s a good idea to just put Gershwin and Porter down for a moment, letting them rest a bit.”

Not only does Roseanne feel she is part of a movement to create a new and more modern songbook, but she has a vision for vocalists as a group of artists themselves. She describes, “I started teaching about ten years ago. In vocal jazz I have a great mission. I toured as a US vocal jazz ambassador in 2004. I went to all of these crazy countries presenting workshops on vocal jazz and doing concerts. When I came back to the US, I realized that most colleges don’t have a vocal jazz program. At NYU they don’t have a vocal jazz program. At Rutgers, they don’t have a vocal jazz program. So, there’s still a divide between singers and instrumentalists. For me, I’ve been developing and writing these programs for singers to get them as educated as instrumentalists are. To develop their ear and sense of timing. To close this gap where instrumentalists think, “Singers are such a drag. They can’t improvise. They don’t know their time. I’m part of this little legion of singers dedicated to this. Michelle Weir has written a great book on this. Judy Niemack has written a book on modal jazz. I teach a gifted teens class in Newark. I have all kinds of 13-18 year olds. One of my students said, “I applied to such and such a college, but they don’t believe in vocal jazz. They cancelled the class.” The singers have to be educated to. Don’t complain about the singers if you’re not willing to educate them.”

Be it educating in a formal classroom,or on stage, Roseanne is taking her lessons, and making them available on her fun new cd, as well as on stage, with Werner by her side. Check out the new direction when she comes to town