Diddlin' Deedles (Music Review, Diane Schuur, I Remember You: With Love To Stan And Frank)

I have never been a fan of Deedles (Diane Schuur's nickname) but I have a lot of respect for her. her big brassy style, and needless scatting just turns me off, but I know she has a lot of fans who like the way she interprets songs. On her newest album, "I Remember You: With Love to Stan And Frank," she is her normal self. That is good news for her fans, but kind of bad news for me. It's really just a style disagreement. On "Here's That Rainy Day," a song I really associate with melancholy, her sunny breezy style is off-putting. Add her scatting towards the end, and while technically sound, just seemed out of place with its lyrical poetry. On Jim Webb's "Didn't We,"  she slows it down, but to me it becomes too slowed down. the song meanders, and her sometimes-spoken parts were to me comic. She swoops through the words too quickly, marring its intimacy. She fares better with a lilting "I Remember You," which she sings mostly straight, and Alan Broadbent's piano solo in the middle was mesmerizing. Her "How Insensitive" is a bit pf a puzzle - it's rhythmic, syncopated, and while it does not really serve the lyrics, I couldn't help but keep on listening to it, and even repeated the track at first listen. And I guess what? I was enamored with her "Nice And Easy," which was satisfyingly swing-y and respectful of the song.  So I either agree or disagree with her, so at the very least she makes me react, which is miles better than all these bland jazz vocals singer that just bore me to tears.