CHRISTINE FAWSON

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

Independent Label

Christine Fawson, vocals/trumpet; Tim Ray, piano/arranger; Dave Zinno, bass; Casey Scheuerell, drums/ percussion.

Christine Fawson is both a vocalist and trumpeter.  In middle school, the fledgling musician began to play trumpet. She fell in love with the instrument.  Very quickly she became a first-chair trumpeter in her school band.

For fourteen years, Fawson was a professor of Brass, Ear Training, Harmony, Voice, Performance Studies and Ensemble at Berklee College of Music.  From 2002 – 2012, Fawson was a member of vocal jazz ensemble “Syncopation.” They made three recordings. Syncopation won first place in the 2008 Boston Regional a ’Cappella Harmony Sweepstakes.  As a bandleader, she has released four albums: “Happy Talk”, “My Side” (that features her original compositions), another album titled “Here Now” and “Christine Fawson Sings Jazz.”

“My mentor, Phil Wilson said playing and teaching were always connected for him.  It’s true! In music, playing and teaching go hand in hand.  We are always learning and teaching ourselves.  It’s part of who we are,” Christine Fawson writes in her liner notes.

She opens this release with the Van Heusen & Burke standard, “It Could Happen to You” that she has arranged as a slow swing.  It’s also her album title.

The Carmichael & Mercer tune “Lazybones” shows the bluesy side of Fawson. Tim Ray’s piano accompaniment adds pizazz to the arrangement and Fawson solos on her trumpet as they trade fours. She and her pianist/arranger present “What’ll I Do” as a duet, and they play with time.

On “My heart Stood Still” she opens with a scat introduction before slow swinging this old classic by Rodgers & Hart. Instead of playing her trumpet, she uses her vocals as a horn during the mid-song solo.

I was surprised by the funk arrangement on the jazz standard “Like Someone in Love.”   Her interpretation and the arrangement on “You Don’t Know What Love is” borrows from Cedar Walton’s groove, borrowed from the production of his original composition, “Bolivia.”

I enjoyed her rendition of “I Was Doing All Right.”  Her trumpet solo shines during this arrangement. Dave Zinno takes an impressive solo, skipping along on his double bass.

Christine Fawson currently lives and performs in and around the New England area.  She has traveled, performing throughout the United States and in 42 countries.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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