ANGELA O’NEILL and the OUTRAGEOUS8

A LIVE MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO PEGGY LEE

Outrageous Records

The familiar opening tune for “Angela O’Neill and the Outrageous8” is Billy Strayhorn’s “A-Train,” giving Angela O’Neill the opportunity to introduce her talented band members. This album was recorded “live” in the upstairs room of Vitello’s night spot in Southern California. The first soloist is the spirited Sam Morgan on tenor saxophone. He is also the group’s musical director. He’s followed by Dennis Mitcheltree on alto saxophone who was subbing for Ron Cyger that evening. I was impressed with Bill Bodine’s electric bass solo. Tony Pia keeps the music charged with his powerhouse drums.  This is a great instrumental way to open their “set.”

On an evening at the Velvet Martini Lounge inside Vitello’s Restaurant, Angela O’Neill is tributing Peggy Lee, an iconic jazz and cabaret singer. What better song to open the vocal portion of this show with than the bluesy “I’m A Woman,” sung by bandleader and vocalist, O’Neill.

Peggy Lee was famous for her smokey sexy sound and cool laid-back demeanor. She was a cabaret singer from the fifties, dressed in curve hugging gowns and offering each song she sang with sincere believability. I didn’t hear that sincerity in these deliveries. Instead, O’Neill sounds like she’s having fun and rubbing her joy and their big band excitement onto her audience as they swing “Hallelujah I Love Him So.”  I can tell that O’Neill is a seasoned entertainer, more so than a jazz singer.  She enjoys having a spirited rapport with her live audience.

I was hopeful to hear more jazz singing and less entertaining on a ballad, but that was not to be. Almost all of these songs are shuffles or swing arrangements. Harry Smallenburg has arranged most of these tunes and the band is smokin’ hot. O’Neill offers patter between songs, telling us historic stories of Peggy Lee and the Benny Goodman band. We learn that Peggy was dating Goodman’s guitar player. That got them both fired.  O’Neill tells us she became pregnant, gave birth to a daughter, and wrote the swing tune, “It’s A Good Day.” Then O’Neill sings it.

The lead vocalist and her Outrageous8 continue to swing their way through the show with popular tunes like, “I’m Beginning to See the Light” and “All Right, Ok – You Win.”

“Mean to Me” is sung by male vocalist, Al Timss.  Again, it’s a slow swing and the horn section shines.  But as a storyteller, Mr. Timss drops the ball.  He has probably sung this song a million times in a million different situations. Still, the job of a vocalist is to sell the song, while making us believe and relate to the lyrics. I don’t believe him.

THE OUTRAGEOUS8 BAND: Angela O’Neill, bandleader/vocals; Al Timss, vocals; Rocky Davis, piano/arranger; Bill Bodine, bass guitar; Tony Pia, drums; Sam Morgan, musical director/tenor sax; Ron Cyger, alto sax/band librarian; Richard Walker, baritone sax/flute/band librarian; Paul Litteral, trumpet/flugelhorn; Harry Smallenburg, trombone/arranger.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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