Deanna Reuben | Jazz Vocalist & Songwriter

Dan Singer of  In Tune International Magazine UK – October 2011
Deanna is delicate when she should be and forceful when it matters most – fresh as a singing daisey. There’s much to throw yourself into here.
A pair of Schwartz/Dietz songs can’t be bettered. The verse of “I See Your Face Before Me” just glows. The tenderness of their “Haunted Heart” should stay with you for quite some time. Her treatment of “Devil May Care” (Kirk/Dorough) is uptempo and uplifting. Ms. Reuben dazzles here and is wildly on key throughout. The title song (Noble) is almost still sung. Bob Meashey most ably helps out on the fluge/horn.
“Where Do You Start?” (Bergmans/Mandel) is a moody yet spellbinding musical treat. Deanna never lets us in a deep ingrossing beautiful cry for a romantic past most personal. It’s emotionally draining. One can’t go wrong with the pair of Duke Ellington songs: “Just Squeeze Me” (Gaines) and “I Didn’t Know Enough About You” (Russell). Both can’t be improved upon. There is so much more to wrap yourself into here in her third album. View article PDF

There are many singers out there who make albums that address the songs of the Great American Songbook. The Very Thought of You by Deanna Reuben is one of the better ones that I have heard recently. Reuben has a smooth an pleasant sound, straight ahead with a nice jazz feeling underneath. Pianist Marty Mellinger, bassist Steve Varner and drummer George Johnson form her basic support with guest appearances by the wonderful tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna, flugelhornist Bob Meashey, guitarist Paul Colombo and violinist Christopher Collins Lee. The album is nicely paced with lovely ballad readings of songs like “Haunted Heart,” “Over the Rainbow” and “How Insensitive,” and easily swinging takes on tunes such as “Easy to Love” and “Devil May Care.” To close the program, Reuben sings “Cinema Paradiso” in Italian, accompanied only by the guitar of Colombo and the violin of Lee, and it is an interesting and daring, but effective way to close things out.