Angela Verbrugge with Ray Gallon - In the Wonder of the Night
(G2 Records, 2025)
Canadian vocalist Angela Verbrugge closes out this quarter century with an intimate collection of voice and piano (Ray Gallon) ruminations, crepuscular concentrations, In the Wonder of the Night. This theme carefully curates a feeling of early evening and expresses it with five imaginative originals and six reimagined standards, which effectively draw the shades.
Her debut, The Night We Couldn’t Say Good Night (Gut Strings, 2019), came before her current recording, along with Love for Connoisseurs (Gut Strings, 2022) and 2024’s Somewhere (OA2, 2024). Verbrugge proved equal in both original compositions and standards. Her effortless conversational tone is inviting, and her sense of humor infectious.
Verbrugge brings things to an intimate ground level with this close duet recording. Gallon is more that up to the task, providing Verbrugge refined and excellent accompaniment.the vocalist is comfortable with a variety of songs. Andy Razaf and Paul Denniker’s “S’posin,” amplifies an already evident sense of humor, while the mash-up of “Moonlight Becomes You” – “In the Wonder of the Night,” brims with romance and nostalgia. This is a fine recital by any measure; solid enough to satisfy the fussiest of listeners.
Thank you, Angela, for these kind words. I owed you this review and loved the recording. I love jazz vocals!
Really insightful review. The voice-piano duet format strips away all the production layers and forces the vocalist to actually communicate emotinally, which is kinda rare these days. I've been listening to more intimate jazz recordings lately and it's wild how much more expressive they can be compared to big ensemble stuff. Verbrugge's conversational tone sounds perfect for this crepuscular vibe.