RINGER OF THE WEEK…
Isabel Rose
Swingin’ From The Hip
The Jubilee Recording Company
www.isabelrose.com
By George W. Harris

Here’s a singer with a LOT of moxie! For her first recording, Isabel Rose shows alarming confidence, taste and pizzazz as she swings and coos with joyful abandon an a collection of standards and “where’d she get THAT song from” not-so-standards. Teamed up with an adroit combo lead by pianist/arranger Jeffrey Klitz, Rose blossoms on vibrantly arranged takes of tunes like “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” and blooms on an exciting take of “Aquarius.” While her voice gently unfolds like a petal on Tin P an Alley specials like “The Best Is Yet To Come” and “Lovely Day,” what makes her stand out like a shooting stem are her wonderfully reworked Boomer tunes. She delivers a deliciously thorny take of Ann Margaret’s “Thirteen Men” that will make you howl with joy, while her “Fever”-like arrangement of Pat Benetar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” begins like a mysterious sepal before it opens up into an aromatic style. This will get you hot under the collar in no time. Where’d this lady come from, and when’s she coming to town? Whew!