RHAPSODY

Narrator Tavia Gilbert's lyrical voice and wide performance range make her the perfect narrator for this audiobook. Katherine, wife of wealthy banker Jimmy Warburg, is a classically trained pianist who finds her world turned upside down when she hears George Gershwin's brilliant "Rhapsody in Blue." Gilbert dramatizes Katherine's development into jazz musician Kay Swift, who wrote the jazz standard "Fine and Dandy." Gilbert excels at conjuring two worlds; for example, she contrasts the snide titters of an upper-crust society gathering with the genuine laughs of a down-to-earth Harlem party. Gilbert's vocal variety captures secondary characters as well: the raspy-voice of stride pianist Luckey Roberts, the rolling "r's" of Mrs. Vanderbilt Belmont, the quiet murmurs of maids, and an angry priest's diatribe on the merits of Prohibition. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2021]