1. You Don't Know Me
2. Be My Love
3. Blue Moon
4. Let's Do It
5. Don't Say a Word
6. The Book Of Love
7. You Taught My Heart To Sing
8. You Go To My Head
9. Cry Me a River
10. I'm a Fool To Want You
11. Goodbye
12. The Book Of Love
Cheryl Bentyne - Vocals,
John Pizzarelli - Vocals (track 3),
Mark Kibble and Alvin Chea - Vocals (tracks
6, 12)
Zoe Allen - Vocals (tracks 6, 12)
Corey Allen - Piano, keyboards
Bill Cantos - Piano (track 5)
Kevin Axt - Bass
Grant Geissman - Guitar
Wayne Johnson - Guitar (track 2)
Dave Tull - Drums
Don Alias - Percussion
Scott Breadman - Percussion
Charlie Bisharat - Violin (tracks 3, 10)
Armen Ksajikian - Cello (track 2)
Bob Sheppard - Tenor sax
Chris Tedesco - Trumpet
The City of Prague Symphony Orchestra Strings
conducted by Corey Allen
Cheryl
Bentyne is best known as a member of vocal
quartet Manhattan Transfer but with this album
she substantiates her position as a fine vocalist
who can certainly go it alone. As I criticised
a recent Jane Monheit album for the lushness
of its backings, you may think I am being
inconsistent to praise this CD, on which Cheryl
is accompanied by lush strings on several
tracks. But Cheryl has retained a jazz quality
which Jane Monheit seems to have jettisoned.
And the backings here vary enormously - from
the simple guitar and cello in Be
My Love to
the equally discreet and effective piano accompaniment
on You
Taught My Heart To Sing.
The
CD is actually an example of that rather old-fashioned
idea: the concept album. It traces the progress
of a love affair from initial longing, through
flirtation and joy to disillusion and loss.
The longing is eloquently expressed by the
opening You
Don't Know Me, with
emotional orchestral backing.
Things
look brighter with Blue
Moon,
on which Cheryl is sympathetically joined
in a vocal duet with John Pizzarelli. This
track is spiced up with Grappelli-like violin
from Charlie Bisharat, who brings added poignancy
to I'm
a Fool To Want You
and the heart-rending Goodbye.
If
the first track made you wonder about Cheryl's
credentials as a jazz vocalist, tracks 3 and
4 provide convincing proof that she is a real
jazz singer. Her phrasing and the little variations
she introduces are evidence of a jazz sensibility.
Her versatility is evident in the smooth seductiveness
of Don't
Say a Word
(with a good sax solo) and the Latin-flavoured
You
Go To My Head.
On the title track (briefly reprised at the
end of the album), she is joined by two members
of Take 6 and Zoe Allen who supply a cappella
vocals to create a sound reminiscent of Take
6 or Manhattan Transfer. This is my favourite
track on the CD - a rich, deep vocal arrangement
, conveying perfectly the mixture of tenderness
and irony in the lyrics. But there are no
duff tracks here at all. Recommended enthusiastically.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Telarc
CD 83652
