VOA常速英语:Tierney Sutton's 'Desire' Proves Talent for Passionate Love Songs

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Jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton admits it was the music of Cole Porter that inspired her to make her latest album, Desire. Sutton updates two Porter standards and several other classics from the Great American Songbook, including a popular tune that made its debut on Broadway more than 80 years ago.  

"Love Me Or Leave Me, by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn, first appeared in the 1928 musical "Whoopee!" Vaudeville star Ruth Etting sang the original version, but it's been recorded numerous times since, including versions by Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and even a 1929 piano instrumental by "Fats" Waller. Here, Tierney Sutton proves her talent for torch (passionate love) songs with an interpretation that's part whimsy, part nostalgia.

Tierney discovered jazz later than most. She graduated college with a degree in Russian language and literature, but it wasn't until her training at the Berklee College of Music that she took a serious interest in singing jazz. Before long, Tierney had her first recording contract, leading the New York Times to call her, "A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level."

Singing Cole Porter is familiar territory for Tierney Sutton. She says when her band arranged an evening of Porter's music for a recent jazz festival, it was time to revisit the Cole Porter Songbook. On Desire, Tierney sings Porter's "It's All Right With Me" and "My Heart Belongs To Daddy."

Helping out on the album are pianist Christian Jacob, drummer Ray Brinker, and bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt, who along with Tierney Sutton, turn up the heat on "Fever."