My parents totally missed the rise of modern jazz. During the 1950's and 60's, all of that Miles and Monk and Coltrane...you get the idea.

No, what played in our house was Mitch Miller(as in "Sing along with..."), Tom Jones, Ferrante & Teicher, Herb Alpert, Henry Mancini, Dean Martin and ...you get the idea.

Of course, back then I had no idea that I'd "missed" anything. I just figured that everybody listed to Whipped Cream and Other Delights and The Singing Nun. (This goes a long way to explaining my first 'jazz' record: Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good.)

So, about fifteen years ago, when I went through my first great period of JazzSnobbery™ (I've since recovered, thank you), I dropped a few names on my folks, figuring to reignite the spark that surely they must have felt upon their discovery of this music.

No dice. I was brought up on the wrong side of the musical tracks.

What shook me out of the snob zone was the discovery of a fantastic Exotica/Lounge show (Martini's With Mancini) on a local college radio station. I had no idea just how much of that pop instrumental music had soaked into me. The Rat Pack, Mancini...it all came flooding back.

Now, a couple of facts should disqualify Renee Olstead from being considered as fitting in with the Exotica of yore. One is that her record was produced by David Foster (yes, David Celine Dion Foster.) Personally, I don't care about that but some people do hold grudges. The second fact? Ms. Olstead is only fourteen years old.

Well, I had listened to all of Renee Olstead several times through before learning of her age. At that point I immediately popped the disc back in and was amazed. You know, if she was in her twenties, this recording would still be pretty good. But open your ears to what she does with "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Summertime" or "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby": nobody fourteen years of age has the right to phrasing like that. She's that good. She's been compared to Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday, which is going to far, if ya ask me. But still, if she can evoke this kind of emotional timbre now, her future's just gotta be bright.

The song selection also brings in some more 'modern standards', including "Midnight At The Oasis" and amazingly (as in "I'm amazed that I like it") "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do". Most of the arrangements fall into either the Big Band-ish or waltz-symphonic categories, for the most part supporting (rather than drowning) the vocals. Probably the closest fitting comparison would be those Linda Ronstadt records done with Nelson Riddle.

What I'll be interested in is how Ms. Olstead develops over the next few years. Some of this material doesn't really fit her age (Barry Manilow's "Meet Me, Midnight" for one)...but with a voice like this, I'm expecting great things.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)