Sophie Milman - Make Someone Happy (2007)

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Sophie Milman - Make Someone Happy (2007)

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Sophie Milman exudes confidence on her second solo effort, though she draws material from a much wider range of music styles for this session. The singer is still a fine interpreter of standards and show tunes, offering a flirtatious "People Will Say We're in Love" as a solid opener and an imaginative setting of "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" that showcases harmonica player Gregoire Maret and pianist Paul Shrofel. The addition of a droning opening vamp in "Fever" updates Peggy Lee's hit while keeping its hypnotic flavor intact. Arranger Cameron Wallis is added on tenor sax for Milman's torchy interpretation of "Make Someone Happy," while he wrote the bossa nova "Reste (Stay)" in which she negotiates the multilingual lyrics flawlessly. The singer swings like mad in Shrofel's playful "So Long, You Fool." Some of Milman's choices from pop don't work quite as well. Composer Randy Bachman is an added guest for his "Undun" (a hit for the Canadian rock band the Guess Who), though it sounds bogged down. A number of Stevie Wonder's songs have become favorites of jazz musicians, but "Rocket Fever" quickly becomes tiresome and never shakes its pop flavor. Sophie Milman deserves high praise for not playing it safe and taking some chances for this outing, which is warmly recommended.

Review by Ken Dryden, Allmusic.com

What would happen if you simultaneously poured drawn butter and warm honey over a block of dry ice? Since I barely passed high-school physics, I have no idea, but suspect the chemical reaction might be equitable to the sensuous sound of Sophie Milman. On this, the Russian-born (she hails from Ufa, the same industrial town that gave us Rudolf Nureyev), Israel-raised, Torontonian’s sophomore album, the singularly gorgeous (vocally and otherwise) Milman jumps to the front of post-Krall pack of jazz singers who are as wise and witty as they are musically astute. That Milman is still shy of her 25th birthday becomes evident when you hear the breathy eagerness, the yet-unsullied romantic enthusiasm, in “People Will Say We’re in Love,” “Like Someone in Love,” “It Might as Well Be Spring,” the title track and, most unexpectedly, the Fiddler on the Roof bride-in-waiting anthem, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”

But there’s more to Milman than youthful yearning. Her “Fever” is cooked over medium heat but smolders with the same intensity as Peggy Lee’s. Her reading of Paul Shrofel and Sharada Banman’s “So Long, You Fool,” one of the best kiss-off tunes to come down the pike in a long time, is perfectly chilled. She handles Randy Bachman’s “Undun” with precisely the right mix of empathy and superciliousness. She even achieves the seemingly impossible: making Joe Raposo’s Sesame Street ditty “Bein’ Green” palatable for grown-ups.

Review by Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes.com

Toronto's Sophie Milman has that rare ability to appeal to two often deeply separated worlds: those who like their jazz light and those purists who want their jazz heavy and nothing short of it. By having a more-than-capable traditional jazz band and challenging herself vocally to bring the swing, she has commanded respect from both camps. Milman's delivery is silky smooth, a gorgeous voice with a low register reminiscent of Fiona Apple and an upper register that brings Ella Fitzgerald's bounce and playfulness to mind. Like many jazz vocal discs, her sophomore release Make Someone Happy contains an abundance of covers, but some rather surprising in style. The often-done "Fever"’s arrangement is nothing like the original, containing more of an unnerving musical undercurrent than the traditional sultry one. Milman–who recorded this disc in her early 20s–covers a number of underdone melodies, from Stevie Wonder's "Rocket Love" to the Guess Who's "Undun" with composer/original band guitarist Randy Bachman offering his sonic inflections to the song. Disc high points include the smokin' jam "It Might As Well Be Spring," the sexy bossa nova of original track "Something in the Air Between Us" and the beautiful cover of "Eli, Eli" by Second World War Holocaust hero and poet Hannah Senesh. It is a brave and haunting number that Milman does great justice to.

Review by Denise Sheppard

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Sophie Milman - Make Someone Happy (2007)

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Sophie Milman - Make Someone Happy (2007)

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Sophie Milman - Make Someone Happy (2007)

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