Tuck Andress is a world-class guitarist, but he's also imbued with the rare gift of good taste. His musical partner and wife, Patti Cathcart, is an uncommonly soulful and inventive jazz stylist and among the best scat singers since Ella Fitzgerald. Together they create magic, a kind of jazzy chamber music that's deceptively simple on the surface but reveals layers of subtle complexity with each additional listening. Check out the faint echoes of flamenco on Andress's solo showcase "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" and the double-time bass runs he adds to Dan Hicks's "Walkin' One and Only." Or witness the grace notes Cathcart effortlessly drops into her dynamic vocals on "When We're Alone" and the breathless sensuality she brings to the Drifters' "Dance with Me" and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." --j. poet
