Alison Bentley - Songs Of Leonard Bernstein & Irving Berlin

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:47
Size: 111.7 MB
Styles: Standards, Vocal jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[4:13] 1. Let Yourself Go
[4:21] 2. Reaching For The Moon
[4:58] 3. Cool
[6:29] 4. Lucky To Be Me
[3:32] 5. Puttin' On The Ritz
[5:33] 6. Morning Sun
[6:04] 7. Blue Skies
[3:52] 8. For The Very First Time
[4:26] 9. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[5:14] 10. America

British singer Alison Bentley's third album is devoted to the songbooks of Leonard Bernstein and Irving Berlin. Not all that original, you might say, but she did make a few unusual selections like "Reaching for the Moon" and "For the Very First Time" to spice up the track list, while hanging on to crowd-pleasers like "America" and "Puttin' on the Ritz" to make sure the listener doesn't get lost. Bentley wears her deep alto voice like a silk dress. Sensual and warm, she displays restraint in her vocal ornaments and ear-pleasing accuracy. The backup band consists of pianist Dave Frankel, bassist Dave Jones, and drummer Paul Cavaciuti, with Steve Waterman and Martin Speake adding trumpet and alto sax solos to a few songs. The arrangements stretch the envelope of some of these familiar tunes, but they never break out of the vocal jazz mold. Take for example "Puttin' on the Ritz": The singer puts a lot of bounciness in it, turning it boppier than swing. The same applies to "Cool," given a mischievous facelift. "America," concluding the album, is turned into a surprising samba. But the highlight is "Blue Skies," sung with heart and embellished by a creative trumpet solo. Some jazz fans will say that Bentley's voice lacks distinctive features, but she does a more than convincing job both as singer and arranger, which is enough to make this CD quite enjoyable. ~François Couture

Songs Of Leonard Bernstein & Irving Berlin

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