Jocelyn B. Smith - When I Need You (A. Hammond/C. Bayer Sager)
From the album "Live in Berlin"
Label: Blondell CD (205)
Jocelyn B. Smith's website.
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Jocelyn B. Smith was born in Queens, New York in 1960.
Her parents recognized her passion for music early and Jocelyn started classical piano lessons at the age of five. Through her classical training she got more and more interested in 'Soul' music. So in the early 1980's Jocelyn started performing and touring with artists such as ELO, James Brown, Ellen Foley, Rick James and many others.
In 1984, while touring in Europe, Jocelyn decided to stay in Berlin. According to her "Berlin is such a large multicultural city like New York, and first of all alive."
Around the turn of century she worked on projects with classical orchestras, most notably with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2001. However, jazz and popular music still hold her attention and in 2003 Jocelyn B. Smith received an IFPI Jazz award for her CD 'Blue Light & Nylon', a fictitious meeting of Weill and Gershwin.
The well-known ballad 'When I Need You' on this disc is introduced with an extended piano intro, setting the mood for what is to come. Jocelyn B. Smith, with her warm voice, quickly grabs your attention and brings the song to life in her own interpretation.
At DALI we often use this track when we demonstrate for visitors. The emotional impact of Jocelyn's unbelievable intonation has been known to give tough men goosebumps and bring tears to the eyes of strong women.
'When I Need You' is a live recording, not quite as good as 'Stimela' (track #3), but the performance of Jocelyn more than compensates for this. A real musical experience.
