BEVAN MANSON featuring SUZANNE PITTSON, “Out of the Hub”

With the release of “Out of the Hub,” an extraordinary, richly orchestrated, dynamics filled collaboration between pianist/arranger Bevan Manson and Suzanne Pittson, the veteran, multi-talented jazz stylist and scat virtuosa finds a fascinating way to mark a powerful creative pinnacle on her road back from the serious vocal problems that sidelined her prolific career as a performer and educator just over a decade ago.

Faced with the prospect of giving up her life’s work, she leaned on a combination of her Buddhist practice, voice coach Sophie Lair-Berreby and family and friends to persevere, eventually discovering new ways to express herself with a sense of heartfelt freedom and authenticity. Showcasing her triumphant return to form, with a slightly altered vocal approach, she returned with her critically acclaimed, perfectly titled collection Emerge Dancing, which I called “a lovely album to behold, a beautiful family endeavor with inventive harmonies and solos by (her husband, pianist) Jeff – and (her son) Evan’s production and occasional viola touches.”

Working with Manson and a whopping total of 40+ musicians (including full string, horn and rhythm sections) to create a fresh, expansive and highly spirited re-imagining of Freddie Hubbard’s “Out of the Hub” is significant because the singer’s original version (featuring colorful, poetic lyrics by Evan set to Hubbard’s 1982 instrumental composition “One of Another Kind”) was the title track to Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard, released in 2010 – not long before her vocal problems began.

Manson’s lush arrangement begins with a swirling overture featuring a caress of strings around Suzanne’s wordless vocalizing and the soulful, mesmerizing blend of sax and trumpet. Then the horn section punches in behind the singer’s sweeping invitation, vocally imitating a horn improvisation with words, to “come aboard a fantasy ride through lands, sight unseen,” a grand opening to the adventurous, exploratory nature of the piece.

Suzanne rides above the brass with lyrics for a few bars before switching to her otherworldly scatting for an extensive run, hitting all manner of high and low notes as Bevan’s piano, some old school soul-jazz keyboard harmonies and and Trey Henry’s plucky bass groove guide her along and match her speed note for note. If there were any skepticism going in that Suzanne may not be “back,” this passage obliterates that with great panache. The singer then steps back, allowing Matt Zebley’s lengthy, fascinating alto improvisation to jump, shout and boogie over Manson’s buoyant chords, backed by the rising of more lush strings.

Manson gives himself a wild and whimsical solo romp before Suzanne joins the grand ensemble again for the song’s second, equally compelling and uniquely poetic verse and a little more high-end scatting for the road. Bevan ends the piece with a slower tempo and mournful tones, as if expressing a tinge of sadness that the song is over – but the singer returns for a few more masterful notes to remind us that in many ways, she’s just beginning all over again!