Stacey Kent Boy Next Door CD

This has to be Stacey Kent's finest album yet. With no less than 16 fantastic interpretations of songs made famous by male icons during Stacey's adolescence, this album features tracks ranging all the way from "The Best Is Yet To Come" (Tony Bennett), "T

Personnel: Stacey Kent (vocals); Jim Tomlinson (saxophone, background vocals); David Newton (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Colin Oxley (guitar); Dave Chamberlain (bass); Matt Mome (drums); Curtis Schwartz (background vocals).
Recorded at Curtis Schwartz Studios, Ardingly, England on Feburary 18-22, 2003.
Personnel: Stacey Kent (vocals); Colin Oxley (guitar); Jim Tomlinson (saxophone, background vocals); David Newton (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Dave Chamberlain (double bass); Matt Home (drums); Curtis Schwartz (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Curtis Schwartz .
Recording information: Curtis Schwartz Studios, Ardingly, England (02/18/2003-02/22/2003).
What strikes the listener about the American expatriate contemporary jazz singer Stacey Kent is, for all her obvious traditionalism, how utterly fresh she sounds. THE BOY NEXT DOOR (released originally in 2003 and reissued in 2008 with two extra tracks) boasts a song list that WW-II-era songbirds such as Jo Stafford or Margaret Whiting would have been comfortable with, including note-perfect versions of Irving Berlin's "Say It Isn't So," "The Trolley Song," and the winsome title track. To be sure, there is an up-to-date bossa nova treatment of "Que rest-t-il de nos amours?" (the original French lyric of "I Wish You Love), which sports a smooth Stan Getz-like solo from Kent's husband, the British tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, as well as some '60s pop gems like "What The World Needs Now" and "You've Got A Friend." Still, Kent's tart, light voice, and her precise diction and pitch, make her the classiest of the New Traditionalists, a true successor to the late Susannah McCorkle.
Wrapping her sweet voice around songs by male singers she admires, Stacey Kent delivers another pleasant and low-key album with The Boy Next Door. Kent's tribute choices range from traditional pop (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett) to mainstream jazz instrumentalists (Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie) to the softer side of rock (James Taylor, Simon and -- unmentioned in the liner notes -- Garfunkel). With a gentle conviction akin to early Blossom Dearie without the cheeky flair, the album makes for breezy listening. The 16 tracks don't differ enough in tone, making the album a bit too long, but individual moments of warm openhearted excellence make it worthwhile. The sentimentality of "Bookends" or "'Tis Autumn" suit her precious delivery well, while the sly moments of "Makin' Whoopee" feel out of the singer's reach. The bandmembers stay out of the way for the most part, waiting for their solos rather than interacting much with Kent. Drummer Matt Home's light but lively style is especially accommodating and guitarist Colin Oxley's percussive take on "Too Darn Hot" ends up being the album's greatest moment. ~ David Jeffries