When keyboardist
Kenny Werner and vocalist Roseanne Vitro formed the Delirium Blues Project, their idea was to reshape songs from a wide variety of musical styles into bluesy settings. With
Werner's inspired charts and Vitro's expressive vocals, plus a superb horn section including trumpeter
Randy Brecker, trombonist
Ray Anderson, tenor saxophonist
James Carter, and baritone saxophonist
Geoff Countryman, they prove themselves again and again. What is surprising as the group delivers a feverish, tense rendition of
Tower of Power's "What Is Hip" as its opener is the realization that this is a live recording. Vitro's moving vocal in the moody"Blue" (first recorded by
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross with
Annie Ross singing lead), backed by the dramatic horns, is breathtaking; her blues-drenched take of
Mose Allison's "Everybody's Crying Mercy" is pure fun. Bassist
John Patitucci provides Vitro's sole backing for the simmering take of "In the Dark" (in honor of
Nina Simone). Folk-rocker
Joni Mitchell's "Be Cool" helps to lighten the mood a bit, while Vitro conjures a number of soul singers with her hip take of "Cheater Man." This CD is sure to revive interest in many of these long-overlooked songs from earlier eras. ~ Ken Dryden