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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bewitched, Beguiled and In Love (Again) with Stacey Kent, 20 Feb 2002
By A Customer
Stacey Kent is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding jazz vocalists of the present generation. The London based New Yorker's newest album from Candid Records is a musical tribute to Richard Rodgers, one of the most celebrated Broadway composers, whose collaborations with Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II produced some of the most romantic songs that populate the great American songbook. Ms. Kent's jazz-inflected stylings transform this exquisitely hewn collection of chestnuts into freshly minted vignettes of love and its corollaries. What distinguishes Ms. Kent from her contemporaries? First, there is her liquid, silver-streaked soprano - clean, clear and precise - with a mellow, mellifluous lower register that stretches all the way to crystalline tones in the upper register. But there's much more than just a beautiful voice: Ms. Kent's incisive musicianship is demonstrated in her elegantly sculpted phrases and impeccable enunciation, complete with her trademark fluttering terminal vibrato. She brings a girlish winsomeness and seeming effortlessness to her delivery. The upbeat numbers on this album exude an infectious buoyancy, while the torchy ballads a have an introspective, intimate and almost conversational feel, as if they are delivered in quiet, reflective moments of solitude. "Shall We Dance?", the passionate polka of unfulfilled romantic passion from "The King and I", has been transformed into a sexy, swinging invocation. Her utterly beguiling rendition of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is another highlight of this recording. Ms. Kent has her tongue firmly in her cheek while she plays around with shifting musical tempos in "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair", the clarion call to womanly independence from "South Pacific", and she infuses "This Can't Be Love" with finger-snapping, feet-tapping exuberance and joyful abandon. "Thou Swell" is given a playful, endearing and coy reading that conjures up the image of a wide-eyed ingénue in the throes of requited love. In "Manhattan", Rodgers and Harts affectionate ode to the city that never sleeps, Ms. Kent deftly negotiates the gentle, interloping musical rhythms and urbane, witty lyrics with infinite ease. But she also knows that sometimes love can hurt, and Ms. Kent brings a whole octave of heartbreak and rue to her poignant, wistful rendition of "Easy to Remember"; close your eyes and you can almost imagine her in a smoky jazz club in the wee hours of the morning. Ms. Kent has surrounded herself with a top-notch quintet of sidemen, who provide sensitive, attentive accompaniment to complement her vocal and interpretive skills. Jim Tomlinson's sinuous, sultry tenor sax pas de deux with Ms. Kent's vocals, Colin Oxley's warm, supple guitar solos and David Newton's brilliant piano fills prove that you don't need an orchestra to sound like one. The clean, spare arrangements bring a heightened sense of hushed intimacy to the recording. To put it succinctly, Stacey Kent is simply sublime.
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