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"A double bill of stunning singing by the wonderful Marlene VerPlanck, who is without peer in the performance of high-grade songs....These two discs (What Are We Going to Do With All This Moonlight and I Like to Sing) are simply gorgeous...I am moved to once again acknowledge a remarkable partnership in jazz. Marlene and Billy are unique, super musicians, activated by a flame of genius which burns both fiercely and warmly."
Ken Rattenbury, Crescendo Jazz Music( Hey Music Fans - both of these albums are available. Check out the Discography page of this web site.)
"What Are We Going to Do With All This Moonlight?"
Review by Stefano Nuzzo
"It has become a kind of cliche to compliment a vocalist by saying that she "sings like an oriole." If ever there was a singer who deserves such praise, that is Marlene VerPlanck...
"What Are We Going to Do," her latest effort, witnesses the peculiar biological phenomenon that we could call "The Stainless Larynx." It is something that not many singers experience, that is the almost complete maintenance of their chops in their juvenile state despite the passing of time...
Her singing exudes all the freshness and the carefree happiness of a bicycle ride among lime-trees. Her ivory-colored voice is as smooth as ever; its texture consistent throughout its range, which spans from the velvety dusk of her low notes to the shimmering splendor of her ultra-high register; and her vibrato is perfectly and tightly controlled. Above all this stands the pure perfection of her pitch...Just listen to the amazing facility with which she handles the difficult intervals of The Real Thing sung, incidentally, with its rarely performed verse.
The French group Saxomania backs VerPlanck on this album, providing a sort of musical carpet where she can do what she does best: Just sing the song. Her precise, careful and crisp diction is able to make the song's lyrics emerge clearly from even the most complex arrangements.
The arrangements Billy VerPlanck has created for this album tend to feature his wife as a wind instrument along with the reeds and the rhythm section provided by Saxomania...
"Her knowledge of (American popular songs) is encyclopaedic, and her ability to interpret lyrics has won her a devoted following that includes many of those whose work she sings." - Alyn Shipton, London Times
"It might be well for (vocalists) to spend a night soon, listening carefully to Marlene VerPlanck." - Richard Sudhalter, New York Post
"Marlene VerPlanck possesses one of the world's great voices; every note she hits is perfectly in tune...she is a subtle improviser who goes out of her way to bring out the beauty of the lyrics she interprets." - Scott Yanow, Jazziz