Rebecca Kyler Downs - Love Me Like Candy

The Kyler Company
SQ Issue:  Fall 2000 - Volume 10, Issue 4 

Musicians:

Rebecca Kyler Downs: vocals; Red Young: Keyboards, vocals; Randy Landis: Bass; James Achor: Guitar; Raymond Pounds: Drums; Keith Fiddmont: Tenor Saxophone, Flute; Martin Mathews: Alto & Baritone Saxophones; Jaques Vremont: Trombone; Brian Swartz: Trumpet, Flugel Horn; Kye Palmer: Trumpet; Joey “Chi Chi” DeLeon: Percussion; Dina Bennett: Backing Vocals.

Rebecca Kyler Downs has released her first solo CD, Love Me Like Candy, but is far from a rookie.  She is the vocalist for Red & The Redhots and has “spent most of her life richocheting back and forth between music and theater.”

Downs’ vocals are extremely wonderful.  She uses many styles throughout the CD creating a variety of wonderful tunes, all backed by solid musicianship.  She mixes great standard swing tunes with wonderful originals and some great Latin tunes.

Her smooth and silky vocals can be found on Love Me Like Candy, The Kiss and I Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good to name just a few.  These are slower tunes which lend themselves better to slow dancing with your sweetie.

She gets breathy with her vocals on Dream a Little Dream of Me and Early in the Morning.  The latter being a Latin tune for dancers lookin’ for a Cha Cha or Rhumba.

On My Sugar is So Refined, Downs vocals give you the feel of an old variety radio show from the forties.  She can also do the tough girl vocals with Boogie with the Bad Cats and a good gangster-girl with Bernaise.

No matter what style of vocals she uses, she hits a home run.  Her vocals are strong and she has great enunciation, which I would assume comes a lot from her theater experience.

The musicians backing Downs are top notch.  They support Downs’ vocals all throughout the CD without ever interfereing with them.  They are given ample opportunities to shine and take advantage of them every time.  A couple of my favorite solos are the saxophone solo on Boogie with the Bad Cats (with great call and response from the other horns) and the very Harry James-like trumpet solo in Sooner or Later.

They end the CD with an upbeat tune, Well You Needn’t, with great breaks which gets you dancin’ and wanting more.

Be aware that not all these songs are “in the pocket” for dancers but every tune is solid and entertaining and will keep your toes tappin’.

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