Undeservedly ignored here in the States, but appreciated in France, vocalist/guitarist Stacey Kent is caught in a pair of 2011 concerts in Paris with her band of Jim Tomlinson/sax, Graham Harvey/key, Jeremy Brown/b and Matt Skelton/dr-perc and displaying all of her charms as singer and interpreter of songs and moods. She’s got a sweet as key lime pie voice, just a bit reminiscent of Blossom Dearie, and mixes it with a European bohemian charm that is quite disarming. Her strengths here are standards, chanson and bossa nova, mixing the three like parts of an antipasto. She displays a guileless innocence on material like “If I Were A Bell,” while her fragile sensitivity on quiet songs like “Corcovado” and “O Comboio” is as lilting as a Brazilian breeze. Her handling of Francophile material such as “Ces Petits Riens” deserves a tip of the beret as well. Mild, mellow and mellifluous, and hard to beat.
Blue Note Records
www.bluenote.com