Stacey Kent - Dreamsville (2000)
Year: 2000
Label: Candid
Total time:53:40
Bitrate: 320 kbps

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, AMG

Personnel:
Stacey Kent (Vocals) 
Jim Tomlinson (Tenor Saxophone, Calinet and Flute) 
Colin Oxley (Guitar) 
David Newton (Piano) 
Simon Thorpe (Double Bass) 
Jasper Kviberg (Drums) 

Stacey Kent - Dreamsville (2000) Tracks:
01  I've Got a Crush On You (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin) 4:41 
02  When Your Lover Has Gone (Aaron E. Swan) 4:33 
03  Isn't It a Pity? (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin) 5:31 
04  You Are There (Johnny Mandel/Dave Frishberg) 2:23 
05  Under a Blanket of Blue (Jerry Livingston/Marty Symes/Al J. Neiburg) 3:59 
06  Dreamsville (Henry Mancini/Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) 5:32 
07  Polka Dots and Moonbeams (James van Heusen/Johnny Burke) 4:31 
08  Hushabye Mountain (Richard M. Sherman/Robert B. Sherman) 2:39 
09  Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers/Lorentz Hart) 5:32 
10  You're Looking at Me (Bobby Troup) 4:27 
11  Violets For Your Furs (Matt Dennis/Tom Adair) 5:42 
12  Thanks For the Memory (Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin) 4:03