This Is New (Teddi King Sings Ira Gershwin)

Personnel: Teddi King (vocals).Shortly after her 48th birthday, vocalist Teddi King recorded this duet album with pianist Dave McKenna, and then passed away of complications from Lupus. As a last testament, fans will experience as much joy and satisfaction in hearing this album as they'll also shed tears for her. This collection of standards from the book of lyricist Ira Gershwin has King in good, not optimal form, at times vocally wavering. Even though her shrill voice might not be everyone's cup of tea, she is a consummate storyteller and weaver of lost-love travails. The brilliant McKenna is on his game, striding and swinging these tunes in not much more than medium tempos, he's a proven and well-heeled accompanist, and the program also features (for whatever reason related to King) a handful of his piano solos sans the singer. A perfect 50/50 pleased/melancholy mix of emotions is King's strong suit, heard right off the bat on "Isn't It a Pity?" and the theme carries on to the ruefu