In normal times, jazz vocalist Eve Seltzer is featured with the gypsy jazz group Franglais, a quartet that performs classic standards and occasional originals. But during the COVID period, Franglais became a duo comprised of Ms. Seltzer and her husband guitarist Ben Wood. They regularly performed on their Facebook page, a weekly series of “couch sessions” for their fans.
Seltzer and Wood (the latter an excellent rhythm guitarist who by day is a wine professional) regularly created duo arrangements of songs that fit the situations that people unexpectedly found themselves in during this isolated period, and soon they had enough suitable material for an album, resulting in Pairings.
Such standards as “Too Close For Comfort,” “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,” “Stolen Moments,” “I’m Glad There Is You,” and Laura Nyro’s “Save The Country” take on additional meanings due to COVID. Yet despite the dire situation, Eve Seltzer and Ben Wood perform upbeat and swinging renditions that look towards a brighter future.
Throughout these performances, Eve Seltzer gives her own fresh interpretations of the vintage numbers, which also include “I’m Old Fashioned,” “This Time The Dream’s On Me,” and the Jewish folk song “Joseph Joseph.” Her scat-singing adds to the drama and passion of these interpretations. Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments” (which has the singer’s vocalese lyrics to Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet solo on the original recording) is performed twice with Ben Wood heard once apiece on electric and acoustic guitars. The singer’s bluesy “I Don’t Wanna Sing” and her adventurous “Lune de Miel” are also included while “Save The Country” finds the group becoming a quartet with the addition of accordionist Dallas Vietty and guitarist Justin Lees.
Eve Seltzer has been a professional singer since the age of eight. She started out performing in the children’s choruses of the St. Louis Symphony and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and, while singing classical music as a teenager, she was drawn towards jazz and blues. She was a classical voice major in a joint program by the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University and earned her Masters in Jazz Performance from Queens College. After moving to New York, she often sang her original music in coffee houses, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar.
Since turning her attention fully towards jazz, Eve Seltzer has led Terminal Swing, recorded her debut CD Live At ShapeShifter Lab, and in 2004 (after attending the Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival in France) co-founded Franglais with her husband rhythm guitarist Ben Wood. Franglais, which usually includes other talented musicians, has grown to become one of the top American Gypsy Jazz groups, performing in New York, the Midwest and France.
The intimate and consistently swinging Pairings features Eve Seltzer in memorable form.