This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Like Delta bluesmen, traditional jazz vocalists are a vanishing breed.
Think about it: When was the last time you heard a new jazz singer? And I don’t mean some ear-pierced, zoot-suited swing trendoid. I mean a real jazz lover: Somebody who knows Louis Armstrong from Louis Jordan. Well, meet Alex Pangman, a Toronto prodigy who knows that and a whole lot more. She’s just 22, but on this stunning debut she sings like she was born in ’22 as she croons classics from long-forgotten singer like Ethel Waters, Helen Forrest and Maxine Sullivan, aided by the superb backing of an authentic ragtime sextet led by a tastefully restrained Jeff Healey.
