Stacey Kent - Close Your Eyes (2LP)
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Stacey Kent - vocals [click here to see more vinyl featuring Stacey Kent]
Jim Tomlinson (saxophone), Colin Oxley (guitar), David Newton (piano), Andrew Cleyndert (bass), Steve Brown (drums).
Written by Edward Eliscu (A1), Billy Rose (A1), Vincent Youmans (A1), Cole Porter (A2, B2), Bernice Petkere (A3), Mack Gordon (B1), Harry Revel (B1), Tom Adair (B3), Hal Hopper (B3), Jerome Kern (C1), Johnny Mercer (C1, D2), Fred Coots (C2), Haven Gillespie (C2), Walter Donaldson (C3), Alan Bergman (D1), Marilyn Bergman (D1), Lew Spence (D1), Rube Bloom (D2)
All arrangements by Jim Tomlinson except A2 by Colin Oxley
2 LPs, gatefold sleeve
Limited edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Unspecified
Label : Pure Pleasure Records
Original Label : Candid
Recorded at Curtis Schwartz Studios, Sussex England on November 18 & 19, 1996
Recording Engineer : Curtis Schwartz
Produced by Elliot Meadow
Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
Reissued in July 2019
Tracks :
Side A
- More Than You Know
- Dream Dancing
- There's No You
Side B
- There's A Lull in My Life
- Its Delovely
- Close Your Eyes
Side C
- I'm Old Fashioned
- You Go To My Head
- Little White Lies
Side D
- Sleep Warm
- Day In - Day Out
Reviews:
« Stacey Kent has a very appealing voice, and her delivery is full of joy, enthusiasm, and subtle creativity. Sticking mostly to veteran standards on this CD (only "Sleep Warm" was written after the 1950s), Kent sounds delightful while joined by a fine mainstream quintet. Jim Tomlinson contributes some tenor solos reminiscent in tone of Stan Getz, and pianist David Newton and guitarist Colin Oxley also get some solo space. Such songs as "More Than You Know," "There's a Lull in My Life," "There's No You," and "Little White Lies" are all uplifted, making this a very easy CD to enjoy and Stacey Kent a voice to look for in the future. » AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow
« From 1997.Ken't debut,backed by a quintet with husband Jim Tomlinson on sax,and it's remarkable. Ok, she was a late start at the ripe age of 30, but she's paid her dues at Ronnie Scott's.
Apparently Humprey lyttelton herard her demos, which arrived unannounced, and became a champion of this New Jersey-born jazz singer. You can hear why,as she works through 11 less-covered selections from the Great American songbook, remarking in a Billboard interview, "with this album i was trying to give a mixture of things that people know and gems that got lost, songs that might get missed out of the great standard repertoire'. WOW, did it pay off. » HIFI News Sept issue By Ken Kessler
"It was one day in 1996 when a demo set turned up in my BBC post-bag, one of many that I receive in my capacity of jazz radio presenter. The singer's name, Stacey Kent, was new to me, and the cassette sat on my desk for weeks taunting my conscience until, faced with a long car trip, I gathered it up with a variety of other tapes and transferred it to my car. On the road, it happened to be the first tape I picked up from the heap on the passenger seat — and the last. The singing held me riveted for the rest of the outgoing journey and throughout the return trip the next day. Now the invitation to write a note for this debut album calls upon me to analyse the cause of this rush of enthusiasm to the head.
"Let's start with the 'feel.' Stacey Kent grew up in New York, exposed to the music of Frank Sinatra, Nat 'King' Cole, and the jazz masters of the Swing Era. Before she thought of adopting a singing career, she had come to love the repertoire of American popular song, much of which had been established decades before she was born. And it shows in every note she sings.
"The next stage in my analysis leads me to 'style,' that elusive quality which identifies an artist's handling of the subject matter. Many popular songs through the ages have survived as 'standards' largely through the attention of jazz or jazz-influenced performers. To appreciate Stacey's command of style, listen to 'Day in, Day Out' and hear the natural ease with which she varies the recurring pattern of the song's title.
"Swing, elegant variation, impeccable pitch and diction — these are all the stock in-trade of an accomplished jazz singer, and to combine them all is an achievement in itself. What makes Stacey Kent so remarkable is her 'sound.' The voice itself is an impressive instrument, in pitch and timbre coming closer to Mildred Bailey than to her acknowledged idols, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Strong and clear, it has the invigorating tang of Vermouth.
"Of course, all the magic hitherto described could be subverted by inappropriate or insensitive accompaniment.
"Stacey is richly served by her quintet here. The partnership between her voice and Jim Tomlinson's tenor saxophone is sublime. The latter captures the spirit rather than the substance of Lester Young, whose way it was, not to expand a tune with complex harmonic exploration, but to probe for the essence of it. Listening to Jim's solos such as in 'Sleep Warm,' the irrelevant padding, no pressing need to launch into paraphrase until the moment is ripe.
"So perfect is the integration of the group as a whole that, as a rhythm section David Newton, Colin Oxley, Andy Cleyndert and Steve Brown respond with faultless sensitivity, born of experience, to the mood of each song. Solos everywhere are of the highest class, with 'Dream Dancing' especially evoking intoxicating stuff from piano and guitar. For me, nothing sums up the rapport and cohesion of the team more concisely than the warmly relaxed bossa nova treatment of 'Close Your Eyes' — a shameless exercise in group seduction.
"I can't conceive of a more auspicious debut than this." — Humprey Lyttelton, liner notes
Ratings :
AllMusic : 3 / 5 , HIFI News : Sound 9/10 ,