Elaine Dame, Reminiscing. Self-released, 2025.
By Jeff Cebulski | ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Elaine Dame: vocals, flute, co-arranger
Chris Madsen: saxophone, co-arranger
Tom Vaitsas: piano, Rhodes, B-3
Sam Peters: bass
Jon Deitemyer: drums
Neal Alger: guitar
Victor Garcia: trumpet
Art Davis: trumpet
Alyssa Allgood/Christy Bennett: harmony
While being a very active performer and educator, every ten years or so Chicago vocalist Elaine Dame reemerges with an album that exudes her theater-trained personality and fine jazz taste. After Comes Love in 2005 and You’re My Thrill in 2014 comes Reminiscing, an album dedicated to favorite tunes from the 70’s. Co-arranged with another Chicago stalwart, saxophonist Chris Madsen (who clearly has an affinity for supporting vocalists), Dame reinterprets nine recognizable seventies tunes, including some surprising choices that she and Madsen successfully render. Dame’s swagger and personification carry the day, making this new collection much more than repeated juke box fare.
The opening three songs aren’t surprising choices--a rollicking Mambo-ized “Tell Me Something Good”; Bill Withers’ hard-to-improve classic “Use Me,” riding a funky bass from Sam Peters and a tasty guitar solo from Neal Alger; and an even mellower “Reminiscing,” the Little River Band ditty, with Spanish guitar from Alger and Fender Rhodes chords from Tom Vaitsas. The album really begins to shine as Dame and Madsen impressively take on deeper cuts. Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” is utterly reimagined; my initial thought was that Dame was channeling Maria Muldaur as the band—including drummer Jon Deitemyer—changed the tune into a slow shuffle with a dreamy tone. (Later, I realized that, of course, Dame predictably included Muldaur’s “Midnight in the Oasis,” so that thought was, perhaps, verified.) Still, this version of “Wish…” warms the sentiment that was implied or maybe satirized in the original, creating an almost new song.
That song and Dame’s version of Heart’s “Sing Child” make use of double-tracked choruses (here with Alyssa Allgood and Christy Bennett) that heighten the chromatic palette. In this case, that approach approximates the ambiance of the Wilsons’ sister-duo singing and guitars. The arrangers take nice chances with this one, including Madsen on a scintillating bop solo.
On “Nothing Seems to Matter,” Dame captures Bonnie Raitt’s lovely sad-sacked blues manner, again supported by Madsen, who plays Lester to Dame’s Billie, while Vaitsas supplies equally sensitive backup.
After “Midnight,” Dame sings a slow burning “Last Dance,” creating a ballad out of that decade’s famous disco hit, wringing out the message Donna Summer briefly communicated before the beat kicked in. A more upbeat closer, Pablo Cruise’s “Love Will Find a Way,” is turned into a swinging blues—adorned by Vaitsas’ Hammond B-3—that leads to excited banter between Dame and her combo. Surely, everyone involved had a good time with these songs.
Such a tribute collection can be cheesy and redundant. Thankfully, on Reminiscing Elaine Dame and Chris Madsen operate with jazz sensibilities and excellent fellow musicians. Supercharged with Dame’s performance personality, this new album provides a spirited and nuanced revisit to an exceptional decade in pop music, but with a new lens.
For more info, go to ElaineDame.com
About Jeff Cebulski
Jeff Cebulski, who lives in Chicago, is a retired English educator (both secondary and collegiate) and longtime jazz aficionado. His career in jazz includes radio programs at two stations in southeast Wisconsin, an online show on Kennesaw State’s (GA) Owl Radio from 2007 until 2015, and review/feature writing for Chicago Jazz Magazine since 2016, including his column "Jazz With Mr. C". He has interviewed many jazz artists, including Joshua Redman, Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland, John Beasley, and Chris Brubeck, as well as several Chicago-based players. Jeff is a member of the Jazz Journalists Association. Contact Jeff at jeff@chicagojazz.com
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