Stacey Kent _ Dreamsville.txt
Stacey Kent - Dreamsville (2000) [FLAC]
Genre: Jazz. Vocal.
Style: Standards
CD CAT NO: CANDID CCD79775
EAC V0.95b3 ( F4 -> F3 -> Cue ->Shift+F6 ) & FLAC 121b
Artwork = 600 dpi .JPEG
Credits.
Stacey Kent - Arranger, Vocals
Simon Thorpe - Bass
Jim Tomlinson - Clarinet, Flute, Arranger, Sax (Tenor), Producer
Alan Bates - Executive Producer
Curtis Schwartz - Engineer, Mixing
Track.
01 - I've Got a Crush On You.
02 - When Your Lover Has Gone.
03 - Isn't It a Pity.
04 - You Are There.flac
05 - Under a Blanket of Blue.
06 - Dreamsville.
07 - Polka Dots & Moonbeams.
08 - Hushabye Mountain.
09 - Little Girl Blue.
10 - You're Looking At Me.
11 - Violets For Your Furs.
12 - Thanks For The Memory.
A.M.G. * * * (out of 5)
Review by: David R. Adler
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.
WASHINGTON POST - October 19, 2001 Reviwe by: Mike Joyce
" Romantic balladry is the stuff of "Dreamsville," the latest release by the British-based jazz vocalist Stacey Kent -- 12 tender musings by the likes of Johnny Mandel, Matt Dennis, Jimmy Van Heusen, Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins and others. Suffice it to say, there isn't a dud in the bunch. "
" Still, Kent doesn't indulge in idle mimicry. The combination of her unhurried phrasing and her band's uncluttered support serve the splendid lyrics gathered here particularly well, whether the tune is instantly familiar (the Gershwins' "Isn't It a Pity?") or more dimly so (Bobby Troup's "You're Looking at Me"). Fittingly, the session closes with "Thanks for the Memory," Kent's way of saluting all of the great composers represented here. " --
YORKSHIRE POST - October 11, 2000 Reviwe by: Andrew Vine
Rating * * * * * (out of 5)
" So here it is, the keenly anticipated fourth album from the young singer who has turned the jazz world on its ear with her compelling readings of classical popular songs. All the hype about Kent is justified. Dreamsville is a brilliant album, the best thing she has yet recorded. It's an all ballad collection, which presents any singer with the stiff challenge of sustaining a reflective mood throughout, and Kent triumphs. The particular intensity that she brings to her songs makes them glow, and she turns each performance into a perfectly told story.
The material Kent offers us is superb. These are songs of ageless appeal, most of which have been recorded innumerable times, like the Gershwins' I've Got a Crush on You, Rogers and Hart's Little Girl Blue and E A Swan's When Your Lover Has Gone. It's a tribute to Kent's talents that her versions do not suffer by any comparison. Dreamsville would not be the success it is were it not for Kent's superb quintet. Pianist Dave Newton and guitarist Colin Oxley are showcased throughout and perform superbly, and Kent's husband, Jim Tomlinson, is characteristically sensitive to the vocal lines on tenor.
This really is a top-drawer album. "
THE GUARDIAN - October 6, 2000 Reviwe by: John Fordham
Rating * * * * (out of 4)
" Stacey Kent's materials are almost invariably classics of the 20th-century songwriter's craft: the rugged, lost-in-the-city resignations of the Gershwins, Lerner and Loewe, Arlen and Berlin. But this young UK-resident American is getting such fresh mileage out of them that her discs are climbing non-specialist album charts and sometime piano-player Clint Eastwood himself is among her fans. Space is Stacey Kent's game: her timing is immaculate, her phrasing uses anticipation and delay as well as intervention, and she can't make an unmusical sound. "
OFF BEAT MAGAZINE - New Orleans Reviwe by: John Radanovich
Algonquin hotel in Manhattan. "
" Kent is poised to become better known than any jazz musician alive; with one big pop record to exploit her sexy-girlie voice, she could easily have the crossover potential of a George Benson. The problem with doing only standards is that you run out of them. So presumably she will have to turn to newer songs, and it remains to be seen if she and her compatriots are writers. She is sure to attract any good ballad writers out there. "
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