Goldmine Magazine / Sept 2, 2005

SASHA DOBSON
With The Chris Byars Octet
The Darkling Thrush
Smalls Records (SRCD-0005)

San Francisco-based jazz vocalist Sasha Dobson was born into music -- her parents were the late jazz pianist Smith Dobson and singer Gail Dobson. Her main influences are Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn, and her vocals carry that same clarity of debt and quality.

She began appearing in San Francisco clubs, then in New York City at the Smalls Club, where she caught the attention of Smalls resident composer/saxophonist/band leader Chris Byars, who hired her to perform with his octet. With The Darkling Thrush, her debut release on the Smalls Record label, Dobson's ringing vocal tone simply glides along with the instrumentation of the octet.

Highlights of this thirteen track set of standards include "Who Will I Buy" and "Detour Ahead", 2 tracks of which were inspired by versions recorded by her parents. Dobson stands on her own and shines throughout. Her up-tempo scatting and wordless vocal choruses on "I'm Beginning To See The Light", "What Is This Thing Called Love", and "The Song Is You" are inspiring and heartfelt.

Joe Milliken