Young jazz vocalist Sachal Vasandani made the first stop on the pre-release tour for his second CD, We Move, at Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia on Friday. A helpful Arts Boston article tells me that he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1999 and worked as an investment banker before going full-time in the jazz biz. ArtsBoston nicely describes his voice as "deep-brewed" (but so did the Detroit JazzStage website, so credit to whomever came up with it first). I hear stylistic traces of Harry Connick, Jr. and Jamie Cullum, and some reaching back to Chet Baker and Jon Hendricks. He does some fine cover versions (a particularly swinging effort on Thelonious Monk's "Man, That Was A Dream") but emphasizes his original compositions, which are uneven. Among the better of his self-penned numbers is the title tune of his new CD, but even his lesser compositions were strengthened by his terrific backing trio: Jeb Patton on piano, Josh Ginsberg on bass, and Quincy Davis on drums. (Detroit transplant Dean Moore offered up a great alto sax solo on the Monk composition.)
Vasandani's opening set list at Chris' included: That Old Black Magic, There's A Small Hotel (Latin funk), Please Mr. Ogilvy, Medley: Royal Eyes, There Are Such Things, My Dear, Man That Was A Dream, We Move, No More.
Vasandani has a nice stage presence and a gentle but persistent sell (making sure to hawk his CD and collect e-mail addresses which he promises to treat with respect). He clearly loves his work and I think he'll continue to grow.
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