With jazz, swing and latin stylings, and inspired by music legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Sarah Vaughan, Vickie Smith works regularly with her trio -- Bob de Benedette (piano), Ron Naspo (bass) and Rick Visone (drums), or her newly formed Vickie Smith HOT Seven with horn section, performing her shows throughout the New York tri-state area at clubs, colleges and festivals. Spurred by audience requests, Smith released her CD "c-Ella-brate" - a celebration of the music and spirit of Ella Fitzgerald - an inspiration to Smith's stylings and musical tastes. All of the arrangements in Smith's live performances and on her CD are her own. The CD contains 12 songs selected from both shows and currently receives both national and international airplay.
A spirited vocalist who connects with her audiences, Vickie Smith has been called "intriguing" by reviewers. "Vickie Smith is just exciting," says the legendary Joe Franklin, of WOR AM radio. Interaction with her band is both lighthearted yet in command, with a sophisticated selection of tunes, and arrangements that she has a personal hand in creating. A well-rounded performer, her ballads can bring a hush to the house, while her sense of swing can stir it up. "She can get into a song and she can swing. Smith obviously has appeal," says Zan Stewart of the Star-Ledger.
Audiences of all ages enjoy Vickie's performances, and by popular demand, she has returned to venues such as Stockton College in Pomona, NJ, where she and her band performed recently in their performing arts center in their "Best of the Best Jazz Series." Their Campus Activities Director, Tom O'Donnell, says, "Vickie is a tremendous hit and outstanding talent. Our students welcomed her back to our Night Of Jazz, held in our Performing Arts Center. She warmed everyone's hearts and was embraced by our entire college community."
Vickie was introduced to live jazz by the age of 3 by her father, a well-known jazz guitarist in the New England area. As a young child, she would sit in on her father's band rehearsals, often grabbing the mike and getting in on the act. This was her first taste of the standards that would be the foundation of her career later on. A few years later, her parents split, and Vickie was raised by her mother in her grandparents' home in Brooklyn. Vickie grew to love even more the jazz standards that she just touched on early in life. "My grandparents greatly influenced my taste in music, with loads of original 78 rpm records, an antique hand crank victrola, and stories that brought the music to life." Through the years, she studied piano and violin, always playing a tune she would learn just for her grandparents, a novelty being so young yet knowing the great songs of yesteryear.
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Bringing the music to life once again for audiences of all ages, Vickie's latest project is "Satin Dolls," a loving tribute to the Ladies of Swing. "I want my audiences to feel they are part of something special, something created just for them." After months of research on the female vocalists of this era, Vickie chose four different stylists for her show: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney. She weaves a common thread through the stories of the lady legends chosen for the show - they all made the transition from "chick singers" originally viewed as a novelty, to growing into well-respected musicians at the top of their field. These gals were involved in every step of the music process, from arrangements to delivery. For example, Sarah Vaughan was a consummate pianist, who accompanied Billy Eckstine's orchestra before she got her break, and Ella Fitzgerald would be cultivated by musicians she worked and toured with after she was an overnight sensation with "A-Tisket A-Tasket. "Vickie hasn't just learned this music," concludes Bob de Benedette, Vickie's accompanist and co-arranger, "She's absorbed it. She brings youthful energy to it, like nothing else I've ever heard."
Vickie shares something more than just songs in her high-energy shows. She includes an educational aspect especially for college audiences, presenting a varied program that showcases the multi-talents of herself and her band members, while weaving the story of the legends of the Swing Era. In her Satin Dolls show, Vickie chose to include a tune that has made a popular comeback recently, "Sway," in tribute to the inimitable Rosemary Clooney. Through her research, Vickie uncovered a version of this song, that Rosie recorded with Perez Prado, universally known at the King of Mambo, and the bright and swinging arrangement got Vickie's wheels turning. Learning that the tune was originally entitled "Quien Sera," complete with its own Spanish lyrics, Vickie wanted to include the exciting selection in the mix, as she is also fluent in the language- yet another side of this well-rounded performer. Also included is a Jobim selection, "So Danco Samba," often requested by fans at monumental Ella & Duke Ellington concerts. Vickie sings her own high-energy version in both Portuguese and English, complete with scat and percussive scat sections.
Vickie developed her Satin Dolls project by popular request, with the success of her two tribute shows to Ella Fitzgerald. The first show focuses on Ella's early recording years on the Decca Label, which is an insightful look into the development of a 17-year-old novelty big band singer, into one of the greatest jazz legends of all time. Shortly after a few well-received runs of the tribute, Vickie got to meet Hank Jones, one of Ella's long time accompanists. Jones was impressed with her musical selections and tastes and encouraged Vickie to continue with her tributes to the jazz great. Vickie went on to research, produce, co-arrange and direct another unique Ella tribute, "Ella and Duke, Love You Madly." This show encompasses the monumental recordings and concert performances that Ella and Duke Ellington did together. "Ella and Duke were very different - he was the sophisticate from Washington, DC and she was the shy, youthful singer from Harlem - but they complemented each other and each performance created a whole greater than the two halves," says Smith, who combines her own youthfulness and sophistication in each performance.
With her one-of-a-kind Ella tributes receiving rave reviews, Vickie developed a compilation CD, "C-Ella-brate". Craig W. Hurst , reviewing for AllAboutJazz.com, said "The tour de force in Vickie Smith's tribute to Ella Fitzgerald is that she delivers the songs on the recording with much the same upbeat ebullient spirit that was a regular focus of many of Fitzgerald's performances." Buddy Bregman, one of Ella's arrangers and producers, was contacted by Vickie during her research on Ella Fitzgerald, and they became friends through phone and e-mail. "One day I was doing a live radio interview at Joe Franklin's Memory Lane Restaurant in New York and there was Buddy, doing an interview for his latest Bing Crosby tribute. He said, 'I just heard your new Ella CD, and absolutely loved it. I know that even Ella would have been proud of it for you, and the two of you would have gotten along famously.'"
Vickie studied classical voice technique with co-founder of the Brooklyn Opera Company, Sandra Alesi. With her strong foundation, Vickie has a quality all her own, and produces a unique and warm sound. Backstage reviewer David Finkle notes a "Fresh quality to her voice - scores on high notes," while jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli said "The beauty of Vickie's singing lies in her ability to sing in a low register - a rare quality." With an exciting four octave range, Vickie reserves her high notes and low notes for special impact, covering the range with skill and an obvious love for the music.
"The songs I choose to share with audiences are timeless," Vickie confides. "Each with a body and soul all their own. The challenge of any singer is to connect with those qualities and make them real for the audience." Vickie Smith has the unique ability to do just that, breathing new life in jazz masterpieces and celebrating the music of the Swing Era. Show less
