Reaching for the Moon (album)
| Reaching for the Moon | ||||
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| Studio album by Roseanna Vitro | ||||
| Released | June 1991 | |||
| Recorded | Skyline Studios, New York, N.Y. | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz, Brazilian jazz | |||
| Length | 57:22 | |||
| Label |
Chase Music Group CMD 8030 |
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| Producer | Paul Wickliffe | |||
| Roseanna Vitro chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| CD Review | favorable |
| JazzTimes | favorable |
| Los Angeles Times | |
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Reaching for the Moon is the third album by jazz singer Roseanna Vitro, released in 1991 on the CMG label. Vitro explores a number of genres, accompanied by pianist-arranger Kenny Werner and a varying cast of featured and supporting players, including saxophonists George Coleman, Joe Lovano and Kirk Whalum, drummer Tom Rainey, bassists Harvie Swartz and Ratzo Harris, and percussionists Mino Cinelu, Steve Berrios and Café.
AllMusic's retrospective review awards the album 2½ stars out of 5. While acknowledging Kenny Werner as "an under-appreciated pianist" and affirming that Vitro herself "is in good voice throughout," reviewer Ken Dryden portrays the album as a less than ideal showcase for their talents, citing both the "strange engineering" of vocals (causing "a slow fade which proves to be very distracting") and a perceived over-reliance on "bland synthesizer" on many tracks.
By contrast, contemporaneous reviews by JazzTimes and CD Review were uniformly positive. The latter judged Vitro's attempt to emotionally engage her listener a "Bullseye," citing both "the supple power of her phrasing" and her voice's "sensual[ity] and intens[ity]," while JazzTimes proclaimed:
Roseanna Vitro does reach for the moon, and yanks the brass ring. Vitro introduces us to new tunes, sings deeply in many styles, scats refreshingly, and works with mobile combos under the aegis of agile pianist/arranger Kenny Werner. Vitro is full-voiced, good spirited, and abrim with a yearning grace.
Commending Vitro's relatively straightforward delivery (in contrast to a previously detected tendency towards sometimes distracting vocal flourishes), Los Angeles Times critic Zan Stewart also made note of the singer's "impressive Brazilian feel," as well as "Kenny Werner's ace accompaniment" and "vital saxophone solos from George Coleman and Joe Lovano."
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