Miami, FL (Top40 Charts/ Mark Pucci Media) Blue Duchess Records Signs Jazz Singer Mickey Freeman And Will Release Her Label Debut, Livin' The Dream, Produced By Duke Robillard, On
September 25MIAMI, FL - Blue Duchess Records announces the signing of New Jersey-based jazz singer Mickey Freeman and the
September 25 release of her debut solo album, Livin' the Dream, produced by Duke Robillard. Recorded at Lakewest Recording by John Paul Gauthier, Livin' the
Dream features Mickey Freeman backed by a swinging trio of Paul Nagel on piano, Marty Ballou on bass and Mark Teixeira on drums. Special guests include Duke Robillard on guitar and tenor sax all-star Scott Hamilton.
Mickey Freeman's voice inhabits the even-dozen songs on Livin' the
Dream like a hand in a glove and her warm vocals, scat singing and way with phrasing make the new CD play like a living room concert experience. Tunes come from the great American songbook of composers ranging from Rodgers and Hammerstein ("It Might As Well Be Spring," "Surrey with the Fringe on Top") and Cole Porter ("It's All Right with Me"), to jazz greats Duke Ellington ("I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues") and Lionel Hampton ("Red Top").
"I chose this particular group of 12 songs because they also showed my range as a vocalist: ballads, swing, blues, scat and even harmony with myself on 'Red Top,'" says Mickey Freeman. "They also were some of my late husband Bob's favorites; and four of the songs initially appeared on the demo tape I sent to Duke. Most of the arrangements were done on the spot in the studio as we recorded them. 'It's All Right with Me' was actually done in one take, which made us all very happy. The only song I performed for the first time while recording the album was 'An Occasional Man,' which I had heard on the radio being sung by Jeri Sothern and loved the lyrics and the Caribbean feeling. While I was recording the track, it came to me that a flute would be perfect for it…so Duke hired a flutist named Wendy Klein, who did a wonderful job. My personal favorites are 'Surrey with the Fringe on Top,' because the intro is so different that you don't know what song is coming; and 'A Time for Love,' because I love ballads and think this one is beautiful and the arrangement is haunting."
Producer Duke Robillard joins in the fun on the album by adding his wonderful guitar tones on two songs, including "Taking a Chance on Love;" and tenor sax great Scott Hamilton adds his beautifully-textured horn parts to three tracks, including "More Than You Know."
Mickey Freeman is a self-taught vocalist who began her career in
Boston in 1980 by answering an ad in a local newspaper from a band looking for a vocalist to complete a vocal quartet. Although the band was looking for someone who could scat and sing harmony (and Freeman had no experience with either), she was hired on the spot after an audition and became a member of the '30s/'40s campy swing group, The Boo-Bettes, who toured throughout New England.
In 1982, she formed the vocal-based group, The Ritz, which was inspired by the likes of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and The Manhattan Transfer. The Ritz played jazz festivals around the world and toured with such artists as
Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan, Kenny Burrell, The Pointer Sisters, Phil Woods and Spyro Gyra, performing in far-reaching places like Finland, Morocco and Singapore. The Ritz also released two albums: Steppin' Out in 1985; and Born to Bop in 1987.
Mickey and her husband moved to New Jersey in 1987 and she put her career on hold to raise a family, but resumed it in 1992 by singing with pianists and trios in clubs throughout the state. In 2008, she returned to her love of harmony singing and became the newest member of the Starliters, a four-part vocal group in the style of The Modernaires, singing with The
Silver Starlite Orchestra.
In 2010 when her husband passed away after a long illness, Mickey was determined to continue singing, which was her late spouse's most-fervent wish; and a year later she reconnected with old friend Duke Robillard on Facebook. Duke remembered that Mickey wanted to be a jazz singer and asked her to join him for some special shows at New York City's Iridium nightclub. A magical collaboration ensued and Robillard asked Freeman to become an artist on the fledgling Blue Duchess label he was starting with partner
Jesse A. Finkelstein.
Mickey Freeman will support the release of Livin' the
Dream with shows throughout New Jersey, as well as guesting on a number of dates with Duke Robillard in New York City and New England.
For more information, visit www.blueduchessrecords.com
