Toni Jannotta: My Little Heart, Ruthie

It’s not often that you get an album as a soundtrack for a book, but that’s what Toni Jannotta does here. The pianist, composer and singer delivers rich reads as musical accompaniment for the book My Little Heart Ruthie, delivering bohemia-like poetry behind a rotating support group of Carol Robbins/harp, Jon Crosse/tp, Granville “Danny” Young/b and Paul Tavenner/dr. Her touch on the piano is reflective and cabaret dreamy, setting a sepia mood on “Ruthie” while her voice is alluringly elliptical as she’s styled alongside Robbin’s heart on “The Beginnings,” pastoral with Young and Tavenner during “Hope” and Kind of Bluish with the entire team together for “Clydes of Wrath.” Her clear and careful enunciation takes you back to the days when your elementary school teacher would reach you a story after lunch, but with some cheerful horn support, a piece such as “Clyde” gives you a modern art read to the atmosphere. A clever idea, mixing art, literature and imagination.

www.tonijannotta.com

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