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Dreamsville

Vocalist Stacey Kent may or may not be ‘the greatest ballad singer in half a century,’ as her PR claims, but her straightforward renditions of these by-request ballads are not at all generic. What makes them consistently delightful is her unique sound and delivery. There’s a certain brassiness, a trumpet-like pointedness, in her voice, as well as a host of endearing idiosyncrasies. Listen to her pronounce the word ‘idea’ in George and Ira Gershwin’s ‘Isn’t It a Pity?’ Or deliver these remarkable lyrics from the same song: ‘What joys untasted!/You, reading Heine/Me, somewhere in China.’ And later, ‘My nights were sour, spent with Schopenhauer.’ Kent knows how to make every tune fit her own musical persona. Dreamsville includes a number of seldom-heard gems, particularly ‘You Are There’ by Johnny Mandel and Dave Frishberg, ‘You’re Looking at Me’ by Bobby Troup, and the ever-stunning title track by Henry Mancini.

She also presents perennial favorites like ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams’ and ‘Thanks for the Memory’ (the latter not exactly a ballad). And although this is Kent’s hour all the way, her band provides expert backing and more than a few surprises. The singer’s husband, Jim Tomlinson, takes a break from tenor sax to play a sumptuous clarinet solo on ‘Polka Dots.’ And in the midst of Rodgers & Hart’s ‘Little Girl Blue,’ pianist David Newton, bassist Simon Thorpe, and drummer Jasper Kviberg fall away, entering again only after Tomlinson and Colin Oxley perform a hushed tenor/guitar duet chorus. ~ David R. Adler, AMG

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Dreamsville, Jazz, Stacey Kent