EUGENIE JONES

EUGENIE

Openmic Records

Eugenie Jones, voice; Brandon McCune, Mamiko Watanabe, & Darrius Willrich, piano; Lonnie Plaxico & Elliot Kuykendall, bass; Russell Carter & Ronnie Bishop, drums; Michael Powers, guitar; Jessica Wong, cello; Yoojin Park, violin; Alex Dugdale & Rico Jones, saxophone; Kahlil Bell, percussion; Gil DeFay, trumpet.

Eugenie is a singer/songwriter who has contributed some refreshing and well-written compositions to this project.  One is called “Starlight Starbright” and another one I enjoyed is titled, “Hold Back the Night.”

Eugenie Jones is a popular jazz vocalist in the Seattle area.  She has released four other albums including “Black Lace, Blue Tears” in 2013, “Come Out Swinging” in 2015, “Players 1.1” was released in 2023 and “The Originals” in 2024.

This latest release will hit the streets on January 20, 2025.  It is sprinkled with her original music and plush with tunes we recognize as solid in the jazz vernacular.  She interprets Nina Simon’s “Sinnerman,” along with Oscar Brown Jr. and Nat Adderley’s popular “Work Song” featuring trumpeter Gil Defay.  I enjoyed her arrangement of the popular “I Love Being Here With You” that slows the swing tune down to a bluesy shuffle.

This album is well produced by Lonnie Plaxico. The addition of strings to her original song called “Nothing Better” raises the music to another level. Eugenie offers us a variety of songs from her blues based original, “Say What You Will” to Marvin Gaye’s soulful “Trouble Man.”

In Morgantown, West Virginia (Eugenie’s hometown) her father was the director of their church choir and her mother sang soprano.  She grew up listening to her mom singing around the house and playing records by Ray Charles, Nancy Wilson and various Motown artists. In 2008, after earning a college MBA (not in music), marrying and raising children, Eugenie returned to her constant companion of music as a full-time career possibility.  She began to build a repertoire and to sing in jazz clubs.

In 2023, Jones received the Jazz Journalist Association Award as a ‘Jazz Hero’ for her nonprofit, “Music for a Cause,” a program that presents Seattle’s 3-day Jackson Street Jazz Walk to honor the Central District Jazz scene.  Eugenie raises funds for non-profits that serve the needs of disadvantaged residents.  It seems her heart is as big as her voice.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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