On Thursday evenings at the beautiful new Grand key Resort you can enjoy a well known island performer. Melody Cooper wears many hats. She was for years one of the Fabulous Spectrelles before stepping out to do her own thing.
She's a member of Bach To Bossa Nova, a group that plays many repertoires including classical. They are a popular wedding band. Mel also does sound. As co-owner of Private Ear Recording Studio she does some engineering and is in demand as a session back-up singer.
Melody is also a keyboard player. In this incarnation she is joined by bass marvel Terry Rae and drummer Hal Howland. They begin with a Dominican favorite "Bachata Rosa", which has a highly dancable bossa nova rhythm. Melody's pretty face, fine keyboards and sparkling voice make the tune come alive. Terry Rae's fretless bass is marvelous. This is not a loud salsa band, It is easy Latin rhythms that allow you to enjoy dinner. Melody is also famous as a jazz singer.
We hear some Gershwin with the delightful "They Can't Take That Away From Me". A new song sung in Portugese,"Eusei Que Vou Te Amar" is sad and lovely, and very hard not to dance to.
More jazz follows with Harold Alen's wonderful "Out Of This World" with its magical changes followed by a classic recorded by Edith Piaf (and almost everybody else), the ever popular "Autumn Leaves".
Hal changes from sticks to brushes as the song calls for, playing both with soul. "Qien Sara" has totally different lyrics in English and Spanish. Melody changes to a vibes sound,which is lush. I especially like the rhythm change-ups on this one.
Carlos Antonio Jobim is one of the most prolific and popular writers of Latin music. We all love his standards and delight in hearing those we might not be familiar with. Hal's cymbal work adds to this Brazillian excitement. It is exquisite, as is Terry's bass. Mel's easy vocal holds it together with drama. Another American standard, "Paper Moon" delights customers, who seemingly know all the words. Mel can scat too, as we hear.
A number by Basia makes us wonder why the wonderful Polish singer had one hit and just fell off the charts. Ah, the vagueries of the music business!
We left at the end of Masquerade", easily the group's best number. If this is your musical preference, you can enjoy it in Grand Key's lovely setting. Tell them we sent you. Stay cool.