Liane Carroll - Standard Issue (2004) Lossless

Few do rollicking, bluesy piano as well as Liane Carroll, who was finally recognised at this year's BBC Jazz Awards, carrying off the Best Vocalist and Best of Jazz gongs. She really occupies a place on the intersection of jazz and pop, which is why reworkings of such different songs as 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'That Old Black Magic' both sound eminently radio-friendly when topped by her distinctive, smokily louche voice. Carroll is a great performer, guaranteeing a good time when uptempo as well as being beautifully affecting on slower numbers like Laura Nyro's 'He's A Runner'. The real thing. The Independent on Sunday, Sunday 9 October 2005, Sholto Byrnes There is absolutely nothing 'standard issue' about Liane Carroll. A double winner at this year's BBC Jazz Awards, she is one of the most stylistically flexible pianists around, with a marvelous, slightly husky singing voice. This is her most ambitious release yet, recorded at Abbey Road studios ('best piano sound money could buy') and fizzing with creative energy. She has a remarkable talent for finding new things in songs we all think we know backwards, like Carole King's 'You've Got a Friend', which she shares with guest singer Ian Shaw, or the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby'. My own favourite is Jobim's 'How Insensitive', in which the plaintive tenor saxophone of Bobby Wellins makes a perfect foil for her voice. And, yes, the piano sound is gorgeous.