Eugenie – Eugenie Jones (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

To some, the word “jazz” can be a bit off-putting, conjuring visions of impenetrable and seemingly anarchic music, often off-kilter to the untrained ear; clever, yes, but perhaps frequently too clever for its good, leaving the untutored listener dazed and confused in its wake. If that is your idea of jazz, then you need Eugenie Jones in your life and, indeed, in your record collection.

Yes, she stands firmly with one elegant sonic foot in that genre, but with the other, she deftly dances her way through nightclub soul and upbeat, eloquent blues, torch song understatement, and upbeat, old-school dance vibes. And this, like the early jazz divas that seem to inspire her, she does so with a poised pop accessibility and a gregarious groove. If the picture I painted above was of a specific type of jazz, perhaps jazz for the already converted, this is jazz for the masses, accessible, contagious, and full of life and love and longing.

This eponymous album sounds like an instant classic, a collection of standards that take in the old adage of something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, and here you find her offering up well-loved tunes associated with such greats as Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, and Carole King.

There are full-on groovers, such as “It Don’t Mean A Thing,” played in such a way that it hits the groove apex; Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” retains its dark apocalyptic blues, yet even that is pepped and paced up, and King’s Natural Women is given a soulful and sophisticated makeover…and given that I love the original, I don’t say that lightly.

Eugenie is an album for the masses. If you are already a soul and jazz aficionado, you will find loads to love here; those genres you love pushed to even more seductive, sensuous, and sensational ends. If this is new territory for you, then this is about as easy and accessible a way of dipping your toe in the sonic water as you are likely to find. You will hear a maestro at her craft and experience fantastic versions of some of the standards and classics of the genre.

It will either confirm your love of the genre or convert you. No one is walking away from this album without calling themself a jazz fan!