Featured Artist: Paulette Dozier

CD Title: Over & Over Again

Year: 2007

Record Label: PF&E

Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic

Musicians:

Paulette Dozier (lead vocals), Mike Levine (piano), Jamie Ousley (bass), Sammy Levine (drums), Ed Calle (tenor saxophone), Dante LucianI (trombone), Daniel Warner (guitar), Ira Sullivan (flugelhorn), Errol Rackipov (vibes), Domenica Fossati (flute), Jason Carder (trumpet)

Review:

Paulette Dozier’s latest album Over & Over Again is reminiscent of the days when 52nd Street in Manhattan, between 5th and 6th Avenues, was littered with jazz clubs during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Any day of the calendar year, natives and visitors of the town could hear the dulcet sounds of Nina Simone or the butter-topped swing of Lester Young or another jazz favorite. Dozier, which is pronounced doe-zee-air, brings those days back to us with a meaty alto register that takes complete control of the reigns in the melodies, and hones a mellifluous resonance that is luxuriating as it penetrates the listens senses fully. There is no negative drawback in surrendering to Dozier’s bewitching voice. It does a soul good.

Some tracks have a jovial beat in its belly that will make you want to go skipping to work like ”Saturday In The Park,” and then there are others that have a relaxing fireside feel like “Together Yet Alone,” a calming melodic tubing like “Moonlight In Vermont,” and a nocturnal beauty like Dozier’s cut of Van Morrison’s tune, “Moon Dance.” When Tina Turner sang Al Green’s famous song, “Let’s Stay Together” for her Private Dancer album, it was hard to imagine liking anyone else’s version so much, but Dozier’s take on the song is so perky and infectious that you will have to forgive yourself for tapping your toes and feeling a real rush listening to Dozier’s rendition. Her voice puts people under a natural spell similarly to the legends who played in the clubs that strewn across Manhattan’s “Swing Street” back in the day. Though many of the tracks have a nostalgic aura and classic swing jazz brushing, Dozier sings them for contemporary times and squeezes in a few melodies that she and her pianist Mike Levine collaborated on like the silky threads woven through the title track and the cozy atmospherics of “Together Yet Along.” Dozier’s vocals reign supreme on “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is,” and her velvety intonations on “The Very Thought Of You” lets you feel what it is like to be in love and gazing affectionately on the object of all your desires. Tipping the scales even further on the side of love are “You’ll Never Know” and “All Of Me,” which emits loving emotions using refined vocal inflections and cushiony melodic patterns.

Maybe it was Dozier’s early experiences as a fashion model that set her up to move comfortably on stage and in the studio, or her experience singing in the church choir as a little girl that motivated her to become a solo artist. No matter which was responsible for Dozier‘s path in life, she is here and jazz suits her just fine. A native of the beachside town of Panama City Beach, Florida, Paulette Dozier acquired a BA in English from Florida International University and a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from Nova Southeastern University. In addition to being an artist, she is the executive producer of her own production company, PF&E, which has released her debut record With You in 2005, and her follow up, Over & Over Again. Her music is nostalgic with a contemporary feel, and esthetics which make surrendering to the mood a place of sheer comfort.

Tracks:

You’ll Never Know (Mark Gordon/Harry Warren), Over & Over Again (Mike Levine/Paulette Dozier), Moon Dance (Van Morrison), Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is (Robert William Lamm), Together Yet Alone (Mike Levine/Paulette Dozier), Moonlight In Vermont (John M. Blackburn/Karl Suessdorf), The Very Thought Of You (Ray Noble), All Of Me (Gerald Marks/Seymour B. Simons), Saturday In The Park (Robert William Lamm), Let’s Stay Together (Al Green/Al Jackson Jr./Willie Mitchell)

Artist's Website: http://www.paulettedozier.com

Listen or Buy: www.amazon.com/Over-Again/dp/B001583SPU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=12166208

Reviewed by: Susan Frances

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