It’s been about 10 years since vocalist Calabria Foti has released an album, the seductively Julie London-inspired A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening. After listening to this one, all I’ve got to say is “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?”
Instead of surrounding herself with strings, Foti changes atmospheres with small and intimate combos with a core simpatico team of Gene Bertoncini/g, Michael Patterson/p, Jared Schonig/dr and Ike Sturm/b and then mixes and matches chamber mates with guests Eddie Daniels/cl, Richard Locker/cel, and hubby Bob McChesney/tb. The result is an intimate collection of Cole Porter tunes that dig deep into the night shadows with a full moon.
Foti has the perfect voice for this mood; calm, patient and bedroom eyes conversational as she gives a knowing gleam to McChesney on the slinky swing of “ Anything Goes,” and glows to Eddie Daniels’ candlelight as Patterson sparkles on “Night and Day.” She gets deeply personal with Locker’s cello and the longing “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodby” and teams up with Sturm and Daniels for a moonlit sonata on “So In Love.” Through it all Foti comes off as world wise in her inflections and pace, displaying a knowledge of both the music, lyrics and world like one who can display emotions, as on “Get Out of Town,” without overplaying one’s hand. Like the music itself, even her cover portrait on the album is as soft as a Raphael. When’s she hitting the local clubs?