Funny, I knew very little about Nellie McKay when Iman sent me the song ‘Crazy Rhythm’,… rather, I should say I knew nothing, but the name sounded familiar, and when I listened to the track, it sounded really familiar: Of course, it was an old jazz standard covered by tons of artists (Wikipedia says at least 150 covers!), but Nellie McKay recorded it for her 2009 Doris Day tribute album ‘Normal as Blueberry Pie’.
Apparently McKay admires Doris Day, and after having listened to Day’s version of the song, I would say that both women share that outdated cheerful tone,… yeah who else still sings happy songs like this? It sounds like a carefree and bubbling Broadway musical, with happy-jazzy piano and lighthearted violin. But there is no irony at all in McKay’s cover, she takes it seriously and the song comes very naturally to her.
Her voice is clear and light, and runs with ease along the track, but I have read that she is also an actress, a former standup comic, a multi-instrumentalist, a lyricist and at ease singing anything from Doris Day’s repertoire to indie rock, reggae, blues, soul and rap… rap?