REVIEW OF APRIL 23rd, 2020  LIVESTREAM PERFORMANCE FOR THE TWIN CITIES JAZZ FESTIVAL

An excellent swing singer who enjoys digging up obscure gems from earlier decades, Maud Hixson is based in St. Paul, Minnesota although she has appeared in numerous shows and cabaret clubs in New York. Hixson has a warm and friendly voice and clearly enjoys the vintage material that she interprets. She is accompanied by the versatile pianist Rick Carlson who does a fine job of striding on the opening “Ain’t We Got Fun” and acting as a one-man rhythm section behind the singer throughout. Among the songs that are explored are “Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please” “No More Blues,” a vocalese version of “Cotton Tail” that is worthy of Annie Ross, “Day Dream” (taken by Carlson as a piano solo), “I’ll Get By,” “You’re Outa Here” (Lorraine Feather’s witty lyrics to Fats Waller’s “Minor Drag”), “Early To Bed,” and a delightful version of “I’ll See You In My Dreams.”

Scott Yanow

L.A. Jazz Scene