Tammy Allen
Wonderful To Be

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Tammy Allen feels Wonderful To Be. It is the title of her new album but self-explanatory if you listen to the lyrics in her compositions. This woman is in her element singing 11 tracks of contemporary, smooth, and Latin jazz.

Allen has beautiful set of pipes that will set your mind at ease and free your spirit. Interestingly enough she speaks of this in "I Am Free." It comes as no surprise to me that besides sharing her sweet vocals with listeners that she also provides lessons to young students of voice development. You can hear that Allen has honed her craft diligently over the years, as Wonderful To Be is a superb effort that highlights her skills as singer and brings attention to the veterans William Green (keyboards), Sam Simms (bass), Melvin Baldwin (drums), and Phil Davis (keyboards), the gentleman that contribute their stellar musicianship to this recording. Allen also produces and engineers the project. She has all the makings of a D.Y.I. diva on the brink of breaking it in a big way.

One of the more alluring tracks is "So Good," a funky inviting and playful tune that features Allen in her best voice utilizing sexual intonations and finding a groove with music that is irresistible. After that track she follows with an entirely different mood that is more like smooth jazz with Latin influences around the fringes on "Black Skies." This is one example of her diversity stylistically and vocally that prevails throughout this CD. That one factor is the strongest that makes this recording what it is. Its singing like a jazz star 101 with Allen, everything that you had the pleasure to hear over the years you can find in her voice. I heard influences of the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald and right into modern times with similarities to starlets like Whitney Houston. She is the entire package of female jazz singers all in one, and on top of that finds a way to engineer and produce. I would say this woman is in total command of her career and future. I think there is much more to come from this artist, as good as this is, I think she is just scratching the surface of a long and fruitful road as a singer and musician.

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