Born in Thornwood, NY, Vanessa Racci began singing as a very young child, then with local school choral groups and in her late teens she won the Helen Hayes Award for her role as Christine in a production of Phantom Of The Opera. She also heard popular standards on radio and records at home, thanks to her grandfather, who had emigrated from Italy.
A family connection to professional music came through the grandfather’s cousin, Tony Mottola, a studio guitarist present on numerous recording sessions. Although at first she chose a career in marketing, Racci’s Italian heritage fuelled her interest in music and she began performing as a solo singer, her repertoire including the pop classics she had heard throughout her life. After the death of her grandfather, she determined to bring to her audience the popular music of his homeland, adapting these songs to a contemporary setting.
In 2012 she first worked with pianist-bandleader Glafkos Kontemeniotis, and that same year she was a finalist in the MetroStar Talent Challenge at New York’s Metropolitan Room and arising from this in 2013 she was a featured artist at this venue. She appeared in clubs and at festivals, especially those with an Italian ambience, and also studied with Jane Monheit. This was at New York’s Birdland where she was urged by club owner, Gianni Valenti, to make an album. The result of this came in 2017 with the release of Italiana Fresca on which, as its title indicates, she refreshes traditional Italian themes. For some of these she wrote new English-language lyrics and also introduced elements of jazz.
In some respects, a similar background applies to this new release, where many of the chosen songs have an Italian connection either through the composer or lyricist or other singers who have previously sung them. Racci’s vocal sound is very pleasing and she enhances even the most romantic moments with a wiry strength.
Discography
(1) Betcha I Getcha; (2) Volare; At The Jazz Band Ball; (1) Moon River; (2) Coquette; (1) Make Love To Me; (2) I’m A Fool To Want You; A Lifetime Or Two; (1) A Sunday Kind Of Love; (2) Come Back Home With Me; September In The Rain; You’re Everything; At Last (46.50)
(1) Racci (v); Max Darche (t, flh); Alex Jeun (tb); Sam Dillon (s, f); Glafkos Kontemeniotis (p, arr); Mark Lewandowski (b); Charles Goold (d); Danny Conga Valdez (cga). Instrumental tracks: Paramus, NJ, 14-15 May 2022. Vocal tracks: St. Astoria, NY, 6-30 June 2022. (2) as (1) except Steven Feifke (p, arr) replaces Kontemeniotis.
Zoho Music
