Stacey Kent
Stacey Kent
Birdland, NYC, July 21,2015
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Stacey Kent’s new show at Birdland is a delightful mix of new songs, bossa nova classics and numbers from the Great American Songbook, all performed in her extraordinarily well controlled and quite pretty voice. Kent’s multi-talented Musical Director and husband Jim Tomlinson joins her on stage. Her unique phrasing and excellent diction not only bring out the meaning of songs performed in English, but also those that are performed in Portuguese and French.
Kent opened with a soft, sweet and slowly performed “Double Rainbow” followed by a truly beautiful and soulful performance of Estrada Branca’s “This Happy Madness,” both featuring excellent saxophone solos by Tomlinson. His and Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Changing Lights,” the title song of Kent’s latest CD, has a Brazilian sound and featured a flute solo by Tomlinson. The couple’s voices blend beautifully on their multi-language performance of “Águas de Março.” Her unique phrasing style shines especially well with “That’s All” and a high-speed “Show Me.” She paid tribute to composer Marcos Valle and celebrated the 50th anniversary of his composition “So Nice” (“Samba de Verão”) (English lyrics by Norman Gimbel) with an oh so nice vocal and accompanying herself on guitar. Tomlinson’s long saxophone solo perfectly led into Kent’s vocal on “A Time for Love.” The closing number, “Samba Saravah,” featured a truly amazing drum solo by Josh Morrison. The audience-demanded encore was “Only Trust Your Heart.”
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
