One of the most revealing elements of veteran NYC born, now New Orleans based jazz singer Carmela Rappazzo’s bio is that her dad and five uncles were all swing musicians. We can thank that glorious DNA – with a tip of the proverbial cap to her seductive, high spirited rhythm section on Howlin At The Moon - for Carmela’s ace performances and spark-firing vibes of “Rush of Heat,” a playful warning about lust, and the sultry, sassy “Revenge.”
In a completely different emotional realm, the gentler graces of her delightfully rangy voice emerge on the dark, melancholy “Haunted” and “State of Grace,” a dramatic, slightly avant-garde spiritual reflection on her late friend, actress Margaret Whitton.
Beyond the tunes inspired by Whitton, Howlin’ At The Moon rolls like a beautiful, topsy turvy jazz travelogue of Carmela’s fascinating life, which has found her living in New York, Los Angeles, New Mexico and now the Crescent City, which she pays sprightly homage to via the album’s centerpiece, the wildly rambunctious, stomping parade tune “Howlin’ At the Moon.”