Diane Hoffman, “Do I Love You,” from Do I Love You
Vocalist Diane Hoffman recently released her third album, Do I Love You, featuring drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and a formidable ensemble that includes pianist Billy Test, guitarist Jacob Kelberman, bassists Yasushi Nakamura and Yoshi Waki, saxophonist Daniel Dickinson, trumpeter Vitaly Golavnev, trombonist Eric Miller and vibraphonist Joseph Doubleday. Says Hoffman, “This CD takes on the ecstasy of love, the secrets of private love and the loss of great love. To give love, to be in love, to hold onto love is to spread wings that fly and lift your feet right off the ground.”
The album’s title track moves with a refreshing uptempo swiftness, ushered forward by cartwheeling horn lines and Owens’ crisply kinetic cymbal work. But the overall mood is one of cool composure. The song exudes a relaxed energy, and Hoffman imbues the lyrics with a deep sense of swing, moving with grace and precision atop her rhythm section’s satin-soft accompaniment.
