about rita bolton: trio
Album of anything-but-standard jazz favorites is "flawless – smooth, soulful, sexy!”
With this album, Rita Bolton, a St. Petersburg, Florida-based vocalist and pianist and her trio -- veteran jazz musicians Johnny Strickler (guitar), Kyth Trantham (bass), and Karnell Robinson (drums) -- offer a fresh take on some of the great jazz standards with a spare, not overproduced, sound that evokes the live music one can hear wafting out of some tucked-away club. Rounding out the jazz standards are an R&B ballad “Rainy Night in Georgia” and “Danny Boy,” a voice-guitar duet.
For Bolton, a St. Louis native, the inspiration for this album developed over a 30-year career performing in many groups and genres. “Although I’ve sung and played just about everything, I keep returning to my roots and my great love, the jazz standards that I cut my teeth on,” Bolton said. “It’s the music that I always dreamed of recording myself one day.”
The album has received glowing reviews since its official release in 2010. Said one veteran musician, “I don’t usually gush about music, or even suggest artists to others … but there’s an exception to every rule, and this is it. Guitar, bass and drums … and her VOICE. Every time I listen to this CD, I hear something I missed before.” And, from another: “Trio is flawless – smooth, soulful, sexy -- and Bolton is crazy talented.”
