Intimate, darkly soulful yet amazingly adventurous, the grand instrument that is Tania Grubbs’ voice is breathtaking to behold and a charming, supple vehicle for otherworldly journeys to beckon us listeners forth.
First making her mark in Southern Florida, she and that voice – that VOICE! – have been towering presences on the Pittsburgh jazz scene, performing with every orchestra, opera and jazz ensemble possible while serving as co-director at the Fairmont Pittsburgh Hotel, overseeing Jazz at Andy’s for over 10 years.
It makes perfect sense then that the emotional core of The Sound of Love, the first studio album by The Tania Grubbs Quintet (featuring her husband Jeff on bass), is grounded in two songs directly related to The Steel City – a sweetly melancholy, gently exquisite take on Pittsburgh native Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For” (a duet with pianist David Budway) and the Grubbs original “The Sculptor’s Hands,” a charming and poetic ode to Pittsburgh-based wood sculptor and jazz lover Thaddeus Mosley.
Her choice of material and the quintet’s clever arrangements offer a non-stop array of delights, from her whimsy and scat-filled twist on Miles Davis’ “Four” (which features stellar improvisational solos by Budway and guitarist Ron Afiff) and a sultry “Blackbird” to a dreamy dappling of John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” (never saw a jazz version coming!) and spirited renditions of two romantic Henry Mancini classics, “Slow Hot Wind” and “Two for the Road,” the latter being another gorgeous duet with Budway.
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