1. If You Went Away
2. Surrender
3. Rio de Maio
4. Like a Lover
5. So Tinha De Ser Com Voce
6. So Many Stars
7. Moon River
8. Overjoyed
9. Caminhos Cruzados
10. A Time for Love
Jane Monheit - Vocals
Michael Kanan - Piano, Rhodes
Miles Okazaki - Acoustic guitar, electric
guitar
Ari Ambrose - Saxophone
Orlando Le Fleming - Acoustic bass
Rick Montalbano - Drums
Jorge Calandrelli - Synthesisers (tracks 2,
3, 8)
Peter Wolf - Orchestral arrangements, synthesisers
(track 6)
Paiulinho Da Costa - Perrcussion (tracks 1-5,
8, 9)
Ramon Stagnaro - Guitar (track 3)
Dave Carpenter - Acoustic bass (track 3)
Alphonso Johnson - Bass (track 6)
Mike Shapiro - Drums, percussion (track 6)
Ivan Lins - Vocals, keyboards (track 3)
Sergio mendes - Piano (track 6)
Toots Thielemans - Harmonica (track 9)
This
is Jane Monheit's seventh album - her first
for the Concord label. As she has generally
been categorised as a jazz singer on her previous
albums, the opening track is rather a surprise
- a lush tune with sweeping strings, as if
Jane is a disciple of (say) Barbra Streisand
rather than of the great jazz vocalists. The
second track is not so string-laden but it's
still rather bland. The strings return for
Rio
de Maio,
a duet by Jane with its composer Ivan Lins.
Thus far, the album reminds me of the treatment
accorded to Diana Krall when they tried to
widen her appeal by presenting her in an easy-listening
context which diluted the jazz content.
And
so it goes on, with those lush strings watering
down any inclination to a jazz performance.
All the tracks are slow-to-medium tempo, including
several easygoing bossas. Stevie Wonder's
beautiful song Overjoyed
has none of the feeling that its composer
brought to it. Even a guest like Sergio Mendes
fails to turn up the heat. There are hints
of improvisation in the title-track, So
Tinha De Ser Com Voce and
Moon
River,
but it's not until the penultimate track -
Caminhos
Cruzados - that
Toots Thielemans
is
allowed to inject his jazz sensibility with
a short solo and some brief interjections
from his keening harmonica.
On
the inner sleeve, Jane is portrayed as a heavily
made-up siren: a glamour-girl image we have
seen in previous publicity photos. One wonders
how much the image contributes to her popularity.
An internet website refers to "her luscious
lips and glossy, wavy locks". She still has
a good, pure voice, with echoes of Karrin
Allyson as well as Streisand. But perhaps
we have to stop thinking of her as jazz vocalist
and consign her to the world of cabaret artists
who entertain without too many surprises.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Concord
0888072300507
