03 May 14

 

Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide returns to the heart of Rogers Park venue district (along the CTA’s Morse Red Line stop) to visit the grand stage of Mayne Stage. Tonight, songtress Elle Casazza was set to perform in the middle lineup featuring The Flips (http://www.theflipsmusic.com) and Canasta (http://www.canastamusic.com) that was sponsored by CHiRP Radio.

She’s a sassy, sultry songtress named Elle Casazza, blogspot readers, who pumped soulful jazz to contemporary pop vocals into her songs amidst a full band backing her. There was plenty of heat being felt as her voice melted the lyrics during the beginning of the set in which perfectly created a pleasant music atmosphere for her audience. Her style wonderfully complemented the smoky jazz/adult contemporary vibe (with a little of edgy blues rhythms) energizing the room around SouthSide. There was some hip swaying moments ...definitely some toe tapping tunes here and there, blogspot readers, as this reviewer enjoyed the danceable beat especially when debuting her new song. While steaming up the mic with her sultry voice within the band’s downtempo rhythm, SouthSide suddenly noticed something about Elle’s performance. She got it. She understood how soulfully dynamic and sultry this vocalist’s voice can get, blogspot readers, but what she couldn’t understand was why didn’t she demonstrate that vocal power and strength when it truly counted. In other words, sometimes there was no “wow” factor in this performance. There were a few opportunities, in this reviewer’s opinion, in which she should have popped the lyrics to life with a strong tour de force of vocal (of what SouthSide) calls “oomph”.

 

For example – “The Body Knows”, that particular song called for Elle to really pop the lyrics to life ...showing off just more than how sultry her voice gets with the neo-soul jazz accompaniment behind her. She could have added a little spice and/or vocal improv (aka beat-bop) while the band members performed their rockin’ solos during the song’s instrumental bridge, blogspot readers. Musically – the number was great but lyrically, Elle could have done more. On the flipside, when performing “Say Something, Elle did put on a little “wow” factor for the audience but sort of lost it when doing the title track to the album “For Your Pleasure” where the band somewhat overpowered her vocally. Good thing she had back up vocalists assisting her on this particular song or SouthSide wouldn’t have been able to hear her. At least, she did end with a little “wow” factor. This reviewer was sorely disappointed that she didn’t totally go “crazy” while covering Prince’s hit song “Let’s Go Crazy”, blogspot readers. Musically it wasn’t the right fit for her vocal style since Elle wafted between “soft”, “normal” and “loud and hardcore” at the same time while singing the lyrics. SouthSide didn’t know if she was trying to sing and/or talk or both her way through the cover song even though it finally sparked some of her fans to dance. On the other hand, the band rocked ...right down to the infamous electric solo despite not hearing Elle screaming “...crazy...” at the end. Overall, blogspot readers, Elle Casazza performed a good show. She does rock the stage vocally as well as musically yet a few songs could use some “wow” factor vocally (especially when covering a Prince song) amidst her neo-soul/adult contemporary sound. There’s danceable rhythms for you tap your feet to or shake your hips.

For more information, visit http://www.ellecasazza.com.

Until next time, support your local scene,

SouthSide