This week’s Hot New Local Single comes to us from singer Maud Hixson. Hixson is based in St. Paul, but she has built an international following. When you check out her polished, effortless and understated singing, it’s easy to understand why. Her most recent full-length album Permanent Moonlight features songs by Richard Rodney Bennett originally written for Cleo Laine, Lena Horne and Blossom Dearie, and was awarded the coveted Bistro Award earlier this year.
I had a chance to catch one of Hixson’s shows at Crooners in June. The program I saw was a centennial celebration featuring the songs of Henry Mancini. There were two things that I found really striking about Maud Hixson. The first is the authority in her singing. She can bring music alive from any era, particularly music from the Golden Age of American popular song, and she conveys the music in an understated, authoritative, clear, and swinging fashion. The other thing you can’t miss about this artist is her deep understanding of the music’s history. She provides context for the music that she performs, and she does it in a really compelling way. If you have the chance to catch one of her live shows, you should do it.
That brings us to this week’s Hot New Local Single, a song called “December,” written by Al Rinker and Floyd Huddleston. Hixson relates that lyricist Rinker was the brother of singer Mildred Bailey, and sang alongside Bing Crosbyin a trio called “The Rhythm Boys.” They were a regular feature of Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra. The music was composed by Floyd Huddleston, best known for writing classic TV themes for shows like The Rifleman. Huddleston and Rinker also collaborated on the song “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” for the 1970 Disney animated featureThe Aristocats.
Maud Hixson is joined by Rick Carlson on this recording. It’s a lovely, wistful performance and will add joy to your holiday. They will perform at Crooners on Dec 14th from 430-6pm and at 7:30-9pm.
Hot New Local Singles highlights new, local songs. Minnesota has a lot of great jazz, funk, soul, and jazz- adjacent music, and Jazz88 is highlighting what is fresh.
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