Tag Archives: The Three Diamonds
MEET MIMI TERRIS, WHO SINGS BEAUTIFULLY
I first encountered Mimi Terris late in 2008, a sweetly humble young singer who joined Tamar Korn and the Cangelosi Cards at the Lower East Side music spot Banjo Jim's. With Naomi Uyama, the three songbirds stood out on the sidewalk on a cold night and serenaded me, Jim and Grace Balantic with an a cappella Boswell Sisters chorus. It might have been SHOUT, SISTER, SHOUT, and we were thrilled. Tamar, Mimi, and Naomi are immortalized on a few videos on YouTube, and the EP CD of "The Three Diamonds".
Now, Mimi has released her debut CD: it is just wonderful throughout. It's not simply the winning purity of her voice; it's the depth of her emotions and the wide range of her musical affections — from gutty Bessie Smith to floating sweet lyricisms. She can be as light as Beverly Kenney or Blossom Dearie, but she isn't limited by any one approach. Mimi is classically trained, but she doesn't sound like Helen Traubel "trying to swing." Swing comes naturally to her, but so does beautiful enunciation, convincing phrasing, a deep love of both the original melody and the lyrics.
Here she is, with friends, deep in the purple dusk of twilight time:
The CD, THEY SAY ITS SPRING, is just as delicious. On it, Mimi is joined by pianist Gordon Webster and bassist Cassidy Holden with visits from guitarist Jacob Fischer and trumpeter Peter Marrott on THEY SAY IT'S SPRING / WEST END BLUES / EN SADAN NATT SOM DENNA (an instantly memorable Swedish pop song from the Thirties) / IT WON'T BE YOU / LILAC WINE / I GOT IT BAD / ROCKIN' CHAIR / LOVER, COME BACK TO ME / STAR DUST / ALICE.
Listening to it, a dozen times, I thought of Eddie Condon's praise of Lee Wiley: "She just sings the melody. No tricks." But Mimi's delicate, reverberating art — deeply simple — is even better than the absence of melodrama. Although young, she sounds like a mature artist, offering her love of the songs to us.
Mimi's Facebook page is here; her website is here; to hear music samples or download the CD, visit here.
Tagged Banjo Jim's, Bessie Smith, Beverly Kenney, Blossom Dearie, Boswell Sisters, Cangelosi Cards, Cassidy Holden, Gordon Webster, Grace Balantic, Helen Traubel, Hoagy Carmichael, Jacob Fischer, Jazz Lives, Jim Balantic, Michael Steinman, Mimi Terris, Naomi Uyama, Peter Marrott, singing, Tamar Korn, The Three Diamonds
YES! NEW MUSIC FROM THE CANGELOSI CARDS
The Cangelosi Cards provoke enthusiastic affirmations wherever they go.
And recently they've gone as far as I can imagine — to the House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, China for a three-month residency. They're returning for gigs between October 22 and November 4, including a stint at the Nanjing Jazz Festival, October 22nd-28th. The group will also make a four-city tour including Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing.
I am cheered by their widening circle of friends. But for those of us who can't drop everything and follow the Cards to China, there's new musical evidence to savor.
When I first heard the Cards at Banjo Jim's some years ago, I was moved by their swinging momentum and deep feeling — unaffected sentiment with a rocking pulse. The singular instrumental voices always sounded like a conversation — intimate yet fervent — that I was privileged to eavesdrop on. When Tamar Korn began to sing, the experience became otherworldly, music coming from what Yeats called "the deep heart's core."
Tamar and the band loved the music of the Boswell Sisters — not only the beautiful repertoire and hot solos but the vocal harmonies and sophisticated arrangements. I saw Tamar and her sweetly singing friends Naomi Uyama and Mimi Terris create their own variations on the Boswell repertoire. I remember their acapella rendition of MOONGLOW performed on the sidewalk outside Banjo Jim's brought me to tears.
Now that experience has taken tangible shape, for Tamar, Mimi, and Naomi, as "The Three Diamonds," have recorded a mini-CD of three selections backed by the Cards (Gordon Webster, Dennis Lichtman, Jake Sanders, Matt Musselman, Cassidy Holden, and Marcus Milius).
It's extraordinary music — connected by a celestial theme: STARDUST, MOONGLOW, and the lesser-known WHEN MY BLUE MOON TURNS TO GOLD AGAIN. The EP will be available at the Cards' shows and can be purchased online at www.losmusicosviajeros.net for $3 plus shipping.
And since the Cards are back in New York City for a moment, they can be experienced at Harefield Road, where, to quote Jake, they're "inviting a bunch of folks out this Sunday, some good friends-fine players from other groups." Harefield Road is on Metropolitan between Graham and Humboldt in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the third stop on the L. The Cards will play from 5 to 9.
Members of the band will also be playing at MOTO (http://www.cafe-moto.com) on Friday nights from 9 to midnight.
And they will also be presented in concert by the New Jersey Jazz Society — at the Bickford Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey, on October 11. The concert begins at 8 PM: tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. The Bickford Theatre/Morris Museum: On Columbia Turnpike/Road (County Road 510) at the corner of Normandy Heights Road, east of downtown Morristown. The hall is near Interstate 287 and the Route 24 Expressway. It seats 300 and there's ample on-site parking and wheelchair access. Weeknight concerts are one long set (8 to 9:30 PM). Tickets may be purchased via credit card over the phone by calling the box office at (973) 971-3706. The box office can also provide information and directions, or email Jazzevents@aol.com.
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Banjo Jim's, Boswell Sisters, Cangelosi Cards, Cassidy Holden, close harmony, Dennis Lichtman, Gordon Webster, Harefield Road, Jake Sanders, jazz blog, Jazz Lives, Marcus Milius, Matt Musselman, Michael Steinman, Mimi Terris, Moto, Naomi Uyama, New Jersey Jazz Society, Shanghai, Tamar Korn, The Three Diamonds, Yeats