Deborah Silver, Count Basie Orchestra Swing Rock Standards
—Bill Meredith, May 21, 2025
The South Florida singer teams with the iconic Count Basie Orchestra, a parade of jazz all-stars and producer Steve Jordan on Basie Rocks! She’s best-known for recording traditional jazz, adult contemporary and cabaret vocal duets with the likes of Freddy Cole, Jack Jones, Ann Hampton Callaway, Bill Medley and Ray Benson, but Deborah Silver has upped the ante with her new release, Basie Rocks! (Green Hill Productions).
The album features backing throughout by the legendary 18-piece Count Basie Orchestra, now led by trumpeter Scotty Barnhart after being founded by its namesake pianist in 1935. There’s also an enviable cast of modern jazz royalty in the likes of trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, vocalist Kurt Elling, saxophonist George Coleman, guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist John Clayton.
The kicker is that Silver and the Basie Orchestra aren’t playing jazz standards. Rather, she’s alternately crooning pop hits from the 1970s like “Baby, I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton (who guests on guitar) and reshaping rock standards from the 1960s like “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones. The latter was suggested by the album’s producer, drummer Steve Jordan, who replaced original Stones drummer Charlie Watts upon his death in 2021. And Sandoval’s blazing solo is part of what gives the rock chestnut a Latin jazz facelift.
Silver’s other swinging ’60s nod is to The Beatles with “A Hard Day’s Night.” The ’70s are further represented in Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Band on the Run” and the Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle” (with a solo by Frisell). Even the 1980s are represented — Silver playfully reinterprets Soft Cell’s New Wave hit “Tainted Love” with Elling, Clayton and Jordan, and breathes new life into Sting’s hit ballad for The Police, “Every Breath You Take” (featuring a solo by Coleman).
“Deborah Silver’s strong and sultry vocals are seductive and soul-soothing,” said musical production giant Quincy Jones (1933-2024). “Whatever she sings, she owns, making every note matter.”