Rating:
Genre:
Vocal Music
Release Date: 05/29/2001
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, All Music Guide
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