Falbo can swing hard, settle into a ballad, or light up a samba, and she moves between those moods with the kind of confidence that comes from years onstage and in the studio.
Self Released
Jeremy Kahn — piano; Fareed Haque, Kraig McCreary, Paul Mutzabaughon — guitar; Lawrence Kohut — bass; Bob Rummage — drums; Jim Gailloreto — saxophone & flutes; Kirk Garrison — trumpet; Carey Deadman — trumpet, also arranger/producer; Andy Baker — trombone; Steve Eisen — tenor sax; Linda Van Dyke — baritone sax; Geraldo de Olivera & Luiz Ewerling — percussion; Scott Mason — electric bass (on Latin-tuned songs); Also: Rich Trelease is on percussion on some tracks, Tom Hipskind on drums
After decades as one of Chicago’s most versatile studio singers, Josie Falbo steps confidently into the spotlight with her third solo album, Kickin ’It. She sounds like she’s having the time of her life — stretching out, showing different sides of her voice, and diving into tunes she clearly loves. Big band shout choruses, Brazilian grooves, slow-burn ballads… she handles each one with the kind of ease that only comes from years spent in front of just about every sort of band.
Falbo’s singing throughout the album feels confident and unpressured, like she knows exactly where her voice wants to go. You hear it right away on the opening “I Get a Kick Out of You,” a full-throttle big band chart where she sounds completely at home. Her vibrato hits just right, her scatting snaps into the groove, and the band’s soloists come out swinging, matching her energy from start to finish. It’s a tune everyone knows, but she brings enough spark and presence to make it feel fresh.
Contrast that with “Autumn Nocturne,” where the strings and the opening cocktail piano set a soft, after-hours atmosphere. Here she eases back, letting a more relaxed, almost childlike tone peek through. There’s a gentle playfulness in her phrasing, a sense that she’s savoring the melody rather than pushing it.
You can hear how at home she is on the Latin jazz tracks, “Flor de Lis” and “Brigas Nunca Mais.” Flor de Lis opens with Fareed Haque’s guitar and some light percussion, giving her room to shift between Spanish and English with a relaxed, conversational touch — and with that quick laugh at the end, you can hear how much fun she’s having.
“Brigas Nunca Mais” jumps in with more drive: lots of percussion, a bright flute solo, and Falbo adding her own scatting and percussive sounds as she trades phrases with the band.
The ballads hit just as strongly. “Love Dance” has that seventies cool-jazz feel — slow, sultry, quietly confident. “Yellow Days” is even more intimate, almost like she’s singing it to herself with just the strings and piano close by. “Lazy Afternoon” continues in that space, her upper-register phrasing hinting at Streisand while still sounding very much like Falbo. And she closes with “Chelsea Bridge,” slow and haunting, leaning into the tune’s emotion without letting it get heavy.
On “Social Call,” she slides into a laid-back, genuinely jazzy place. The sax sets things up with a cool, unhurried intro, and Falbo answers with phrasing that has a little Annie Ross spark to it. She trades lines with the sax, moves easily between her upper and middle register, and keeps everything feeling relaxed but alive. The rhythm section gives her a steady, unfussy foundation, and the piano solo matches her mood — smooth, easy, nothing pushed. By the time she scat-trades with the bass at the end, the whole thing lands with the same effortless cool it started with.
Kickin ’It feels like the work of someone who’s been singing her whole life and still gets a kick out of it. Falbo can swing hard, settle into a ballad, or light up a samba, and she moves between those moods with the kind of confidence that comes from years onstage and in the studio. All that time backing big names and singing jingles might’ve made her voice familiar to a lot of people, but here you really hear her —relaxed, joyful, and sounding like someone fully at ease in her own musical skin.
