Vanessa Racci, Comfort & Joy Review

By Icrom Bigrad

Vanessa Racci approaches Comfort & Joy, her third album, with the instincts of a jazz improviser. Produced by Nicole Zuraitis and arranged by pianist Ron Drotos, the recording places traditional carols and seasonal standards in settings that invite rhythmic invention and ensemble interplay. Racci’s individuality emerges in the details: a melody nudged away from its expected accents, a phrase ending shaped like a horn player’s fall, or a sustained note colored by a subtle change in vibrato.

“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” highlights that character from the melody’s opening measures. Festive horn figures ride a medium Latin groove before a descending passage ushers in swing. Racci brings a buoyant bounce to the melody, using blues-inflected notes and varied articulations to give familiar phrases a different contour. As the instrumental writing expands, she answers with increasingly adventurous melodic choices. A saxophone solo leads into a half-step modulation that lifts the performance into its next stage, where her scat improvisation moves with the articulation and melodic logic of a horn solo. The final sustained upper-register note crowns an arrangement whose energy has been gathering throughout.

That improvisational confidence also shapes “The Ella Medley.” Moving through “Sleigh Ride,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Let It Snow,” Racci maintains the forward motion of uptempo swing while finding fresh rhythmic paths through each melody. Her clear diction keeps the lyrics intelligible even as accents shift and phrases take unexpected turns. A drum passage introduces a lighter half-time setting for “Let It Snow,” making the return to full swing particularly satisfying. At the cadence, octave leaps reveal both her range and her secure pitch control.

A different expressive quality emerges in “I’ll Be Home for Christmas / Silent Night.” Beginning as a ballad before settling into a gentle Latin pulse, the arrangement gives Racci room to connect long melodic lines through controlled dynamics and graceful glissandos. Rather than pressing for sentiment, she allows the shape of each phrase to carry the song’s emotional weight. “Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening” returns to a swinging trio setting, where piano accents answer her vocal lines and the rhythm section responds to the soloist’s developing motifs. The interplay gives the performance a lively, spontaneous character.

The ensemble’s conversational spirit comes forward on “The Merriest,” a selection from June Christy’s 1961 holiday album This Time of Year. Against a medium-up swing groove, Racci’s rounded vocal tone contrasts with saxophonist Geoff Burke’s bright, articulate lines. Their improvised exchanges build on one another’s ideas, making the musical dialogue a highlight of the recording. The closing “Here We Come A Wassailing” begins with a bass figure and drums before the horns usher in a brisk swing setting. Racci adjusts her melodic delivery to the changing pulse, and a lively saxophone solo adds another burst of energy.

What distinguishes Comfort & Joy is the ease with which Racci moves between interpretation and improvisation. Her sense of time gives familiar songs new rhythmic character, while Drotos’ arrangements provide enough variety to keep the program moving. Supported by a responsive ensemble, she brings the holiday repertoire into the world of small-group jazz, where even the most recognizable melody can become the beginning of a musical conversation.