UNDER THE RADAR
The microphone seems to love some voices. Diana McCorry has one of those voices. Her sound is disarming, pretty and fresh. Relaxed and low-key, she doesn't belt at all and is a bit breathy (she says a big influence is Julie London). All the songs here were written by her musician father, Tim McCorry, who is her subtle and very effective pianist and has his own CDs, too. They are joined by musicians who do ace work throughout: sax player Paul Carlon, drummer Anthony Pinciotti, bass player Gary Wang and guitarist Tony Romano, who is also the arranger, music director and producer of this CD, where everything works. Mostly mellow moods don't become lush mush or somnambulistic slowpoke slides here. The instrumental solos are tasteful but have some bite and are part of lightly swinging charts that serve the conversational songs well. The rhymes are mostly plain and the lyrics are not especially complicated, but Diana's youthful sincerity projecting a sense of discovery makes that work to her advantage. When she sings about discovering love or being sure that dreams come true, it sounds like she really believes it and could make you believe, too. There are some attractive turns of phrase; in 'Who Do You think You Are?' there's the observation that 'you drive my heart like your old beat-up car.' Making a different kind of point is, 'I may not be right, but I'll be right there' (in the sweet 'A Song for Cody'). The sly, quicker-tempoed 'I Blame You for the Smile Upon My Face' is a fun and addictive track. With an encouraging philosophy about the natural ability to get through life by expressing and feeling love, 'It Isn't That Hard At All' is a perfect little gem of a song. Again, Diana makes it convincing because she sounds totally convinced. As for me, I'm totally convinced that this very young lady has a bright future.
 
Rob Lester,
TalkinBroadway.com