Love On The Tyrrhenian Review

WONDERFUL WOMEN IN JAZZ

By Dee Dee McNeil
Musical Memoirs

The Tyrrhenian Sea is a watery arm of the Mediterranean Sea.  It’s located between the Western coast of Italy and the Corsica Islands.  In 2023, CeCe Gable was invited to perform at the International Tyrrhenian Jazz Festival in Italy.  That explains the title of this album.

Gable has spent twenty-five years developing a reputation as a songstress in Reno, Nevada. She is working with longtime friend and fellow musician Harvie S. who played with her on her very first concert appearance two and a half decades ago.  I enjoy her Latin arranged tunes the best, like the title tune that opens this album. However, she has picked a number of songs we know and love like “Say It Isn’t So” and “You and the Night and the Music” that she ‘swings’ with confidence. She includes ballads like “Spring Can Really hang You Up the Most” and shines on shuffles like “Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home.” Josh Reed is featured on trumpet and the pianist, Bill Hecht, puts boogie-woogie flavor into the arrangement. Cabaret is on display.

She closes with a bossa nova tune that suits her style and vocals so well, “Once Again It’s Winter,” played beautifully by Harvie S. on bass, Akio Sasijima on guitar, and Andy Heglund on drums. CeCe Gable brings back tunes and times that are nostalgic.