Joyce Breach - Confessions

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:54
Size: 140,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:17)  1. Blackberry Winter
(2:48)  2. Song of the Jet
(5:37)  3. It Never Entered My Mind
(4:18)  4. Ev'ry Time
(4:30)  5. Where Do You Start?
(3:55)  6. I Wish I Were in Love Again
(3:54)  7. The Wine of May
(3:58)  8. Boy! What Love Has Done to Me!
(3:45)  9. Bored
(2:46) 10. A Room with a View
(4:21) 11. You Can Always Count on Me
(2:30) 12. Be Careful, It's My Heart
(3:00) 13. Confession
(2:38) 14. You're the Top
(4:12) 15. South - To a Warmer Place
(3:19) 16. The Lies of Handsome Men

This is Joyce Breach's first Audiophile recording; Songbird was her first album, but it came out when she was residing in Pittsburgh (cassette only) on a local label and was later reissued by Audiophile -- hence the confusion in her discography. Accompanied by the Loonis McGlohan Quartet, the cabaret singer's sound is spick and span clean on an array of pop standards done with reverence. Breach's love for this style shows in her phrasing and understated enthusiasm. A few solids include getting her swing on with "I Wish I Was in Love Again"; "Bored," a lively track that defies its title; and "A Room With a View," which revisits what smooth jazz was before its redefinition in the '70s. Like all her CDs, Confessions' arrest-appeal increases with each track. Or is it that her angelic voice subtly hypnotizes you into the belief that this seemingly released from a time capsule singer is something special? ~ Andrew Hamilton http://www.allmusic.com/album/confessions-mw0000611379

Personnel: Joyce Breach (vocals); Joe Negri (guitar); Loonis McGlohon (piano).

Confessions

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Joyce Breach - Reel Songs

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:09
Size: 156.0 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1999
Art: Front

[3:04] 1. I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All
[3:44] 2. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing/Tender Is The Night
[2:36] 3. Zing A Little Zong
[5:17] 4. That Old Feeling
[3:39] 5. Mind If I Make Love To You
[2:21] 6. That's For Me
[4:44] 7. All That Love Went To Waste
[5:16] 8. The Bad And The Beautiful/Laura
[3:06] 9. You Wonderful You
[4:46] 10. A Very Precious Love/A Certain Smile
[3:24] 11. The Tender Trap
[4:05] 12. Love Can Change The Stars
[3:06] 13. The Boy Next Door
[3:28] 14. Oh, But I Do
[3:46] 15. The Best Of Everything
[4:33] 16. Wild Is The Wind
[3:38] 17. Did I Remember
[3:26] 18. There Will Never Be Another You

For her sixth album for George Buck's Audiophile label, consummate cabaret songstress Joyce Breach has selected a program of torch songs, a novelty tune or two, and some up-tempo material. The common thread running through the musical agenda is that all the tunes are from movies made during the years 1929 to 1973. Thus, the album's title Reel Songs. To their credit, the producers did not fall back on familiar warhorses from movie musical scores, but instead they rescued songs that have been relegated to the oblivion bin. The arrangements tend to favor Breach being backed by piano, rhythm, and a sole instrument like sax or trumpet. This works because the instrumentalists brought in to support this singer are first class. Experienced accompanist Keith Ingham is on most cuts with his sympathetic piano. But nowhere does his ability as a singer's friend come through more than on the poignant medley "A Very Precious Love"/"A Certain Smile." His understanding keyboard work can be a model for the way a pianist should work with a vocalist. Randy Reinhard shows he is equally adept on trumpet and trombone. His soft, mellow slide horn is featured on "All That Love Went to Waste." Reinhardt favors the muted horn, à la Harry Sweets Edison, on the haunting "Laura," one the highlights of the album. Scott Robinson's Stan Getz-influenced honeyed tenor provides the support for Breach on several cuts and is especially telling on "Love Can Change the Stars" while his clarinet takes the lead on "That's for Me." Robinson is a favorite among singers, having shared a recording studio with Rebecca Kilgore. Not only is the individual work outstanding, but the ensemble playing is equally adroit. On "The Tender Trap," the group is pushed along by Ingham's blusey piano for a swinging version of this tune from the 1955 movie of the same name becoming a staple in the Frank Sinatra repertoire. With her cool, but not emotionless, understated manner of delivery, Joyce Breach, along with her talented confreres, provides a very entertaining hour's plus worth of movie tunes with arrangements shaped to show off Breach's voice and delivery at their very best. This album is recommended. ~Dave Nathan

Reel Songs

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Joyce Breach - Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol. 3

Size: 158,7 MB
Time: 67:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2006
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front & Back

01. Days Gone By (2:24)
02. I'll Be Easy To Find (3:48)
03. Experiment (3:50)
04. You're Nearer (3:47)
05. So In Love (5:01)
06. You Fascinate Me So (2:42)
07. Isn't It A Pity (4:44)
08. My Resistance Is Low (2:49)
09. Once In A Blue Moon (3:07)
10. You Are Not My First Love (2:35)
11. If Love Were All (4:01)
12. Trouble Comes (1:57)
13. Little Girl Blue (4:17)
14. Time Heals Everything (2:57)
15. Nobody Else But Me (2:51)
16. Bein' Green (2:42)
17. It's All Right With Me (3:17)
18. Everytime We Say Goodbye (3:52)
19. By Myself (3:35)
20. O The Days Of The Kerry Dancing (The Kerry Dance) (3:02)

Volume 3 of Joyce Breach's salute to the beloved cabaret singer Mabel Mercer. Joyce is joined by Keith Ingham (piano), Jeff Tillman (guitar), John Beal (bass), Russell George (violin), Laurie Goldstein (bassoon) and Robin Bushman (violin). Recorded in New York in July 2006.

Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol.3 

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Joyce Breach - Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol. 2

Size: 162,9 MB
Time: 69:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2004
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. While We're Young (2:53)
02. Mandy, Make Up Your Mind (2:51)
03. Blame It On My Youth (5:03)
04. How Little We Know (4:39)
05. Merely Marvelous (2:24)
06. After You (2:56)
07. When In Rome (4:04)
08. Love-Wise (3:56)
09. In The Spring Of The Year (2:15)
10. All In Fun (4:12)
11. The Riviera (3:09)
12. I Walk A Little Faster (3:58)
13. Early Morning Blues (3:19)
14. Sunday In New York (3:11)
15. Sell Me (4:20)
16. My Love Is A Wanderer (3:06)
17. Would You Believe It (1:46)
18. Lucky To Be Me (3:30)
19. Acne In The Hole (3:12)
20. This Is All I Ask (4:29)

Although she does not sound like Mabel Mercer, Joyce Breach learned the importance of understatement from the highly influential cabaret singer. On this second disc in her tribute to Mercer, Breach performs 20 songs out of her huge repertoire. The backing is jazz-oriented, with pianist Keith Ingham leading an excellent swing-based trio. Laurie Goldstein guests on bassoon on three numbers. Breach is a warm and masterful interpreter of lyrics. She successful revives such Mercer-associated songs as "After You," "The Riviera," "My Love Is a Wanderer," and a variety of superior obscurities. Certainly "Merely Marvelous" and Cole Porter's "Ace in the Hole" are not performed all that often, but Joyce Breach makes them sound like they should be standards. Recommended. ~by Scott Yanow

Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol. 2

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Joyce Breach - Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol. 1

Size: 151,0 MB
Time: 64:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2003
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front & Back

01. On The First Warm Day In May (2:36)
02. Some Fine Day (2:54)
03. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) (3:35)
04. The End Of A Love Affair (4:17)
05. It's A Lie, It's A Fake (1:40)
06. Look At Me (3:17)
07. Carry Me Back To Old Manhattan (2:47)
08. If You Leave Paris (2:23)
09. Isn't He Adorable (3:10)
10. My Shining Hour (3:15)
11. From This Moment On (2:12)
12. Year After Year (3:29)
13. He Was Too Good To Me (3:13)
14. Walk Up (3:19)
15. Let Me Love You (3:10)
16. It Was Worth It (3:05)
17. Young And Foolish (3:35)
18. Let's Begin (2:43)
19. Sweet Talk (2:39)
20. These Foolish Things (6:31)

Joyce Breach salutes the beloved cabaret singer Mabel Mercer on a set of 20 songs that were among the many associated with Mercer. Breach does not sound like her idol tone-wise and she is slightly more jazz-oriented, but she has the same type of sensitivity to lyrics. Seven of the 20 songs (many of which are obscure) were composed by Bart Howard, and only six of the tunes on the set are well known enough to be considered standards. Fans of both Mabel Mercer and straightforward cabaret singing will enjoy this heartfelt set. ~by Scott Yanow

Remembering Mabel Mercer Vol. 1

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Joyce Breach - Nothing But Blue Skies

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:06
Size: 153.6 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 1997
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Blue Skies
[4:15] 2. If I Had You
[4:11] 3. Somebody Loves Me
[3:20] 4. You're An Education
[5:39] 5. I Can Dream, Can't I
[3:33] 6. Sand In My Shoes
[3:53] 7. But Not For Me
[4:17] 8. P.S. I Love You
[3:04] 9. I've Heart That Song Before
[3:40] 10. Look At That Face
[2:26] 11. Too Marvelous For Words
[6:36] 12. The Nearness Of You
[3:22] 13. A Hundred Years From Today
[4:30] 14. What's New
[4:13] 15. Love Is Here To Stay
[4:09] 16. You're Gonna Hear From Me
[2:54] 17. Just One Of Those Things

Joyce Breach is a fine cabaret singer with a deep voice who mostly sings songs fairly straightforwardly. This is one of her most jazz-oriented releases, not because she starts improvising any more than normal, but due to her strong sidemen: trombonist Bob Havens, clarinetist Bobby Gordon, pianist Keith Ingham, bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Hal Smith (who is the leader of the backup quintet). Most of the selections are either from the swing era or played in that style, and there are plenty of short solos from Havens and Gordon. Breach sounds fine on such tunes as "Somebody Loves Me," "I Can Dream, Can't I," "But Not for Me" and "A Hundred Years From Today," although she rarely makes any of the vintage standards her own. ~Joyce Breach

Nothing But Blue Skies

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Joyce Breach - Moments Like This

Size: 137,2 MB
Time: 59:22
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Vocals
Art: Front

01. A Journey To A Star (3:48)
02. I Like You, You're Nice (2:23)
03. Moments Like This (4:16)
04. I'm In Love Again (4:52)
05. (There Ought To Be A) Moonlight Saving Time (3:28)
06. Waiting For The Train To Come In (3:53)
07. Dancing On A Dime (4:25)
08. They Say It's Wonderful (4:50)
09. Sunday Afternoon (3:49)
10. I'll Only Miss Him When I Think Of Him (4:59)
11. Inside A Silent Tear (3:52)
12. Where Can I Go Without You (5:01)
13. That's For Me (3:03)
14. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (6:35)

Singer Joyce Breach lives in New York. Winner of the 2000 MAC Award for Best Jazz Performer and winner of the 1998 Bistro Award for Best CD, This Moment, she is an accomplished and sophisticated interpreter of classic American popular song. Before moving to New York in the 1990's, she was a well-known singer of long-standing reputation in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA when she began to develop a more national profile with her first CD for Audiophile Records, released in 1992. In the fall of 1992, she made her New York debut at the Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Convention in Town Hall. On October 25, 2002, Joyce was presented with the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret Classic award celebrating her dedication to keeping alive the art of fine singing. Joyce is a favorite at the popular Noon Concert Series at St. Peter's Church. Joyce's New York engagements include the Algonquin's Oak Room, Russian Tea Room, Arci's Place, Danny's and the Firebird Cafe. Joyce made her Plush Room debut in San Francisco in 2001. In 2002, 2003, and 2004 she played to sell-out crowds at London's Pizza on the Park where she recorded her first live CD, Live in London, on Audiophile.

After an appearance at the West Coast Cabaret Convention in San Francisco on June 9, 2000, a reviewer in the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Joyce Breach, whom I had not heard before, sang with a real sense of rhythmic adventure in a number from the motion picture High Society. Breach also—like Doris Day and Ella Fitzgerald—had a disarming way of letting her breath support ease away at the end of a phrase that made You're Sensational downright seductive." The velvet-voiced singer, as Rex Reed recently referred to her, is know for her excellent musicianship and taste, and her sophisticated interpretations of American classic pop--the songs of Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Arlen, and Sondheim among others. She is the last of a breed of singer from a less-frantic era, following in the footsteps of Rosemary Clooney, Jeri Southern, Doris Day and Peggy Lee, but definitely her own singer and definitely one with class.

Moments Like This

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