Ashley Brown - Speak Low (2010)

I must reveal, the first few tracks did not thrill me. Nothing wrong with them, they just seemed pedestrian, but suddenly Ms. Brown launched into an infectious arrangement of the oh-so-famous Charlie Chaplin composition “Smile,” and her joyous rendition of this classic song, set to a rousing samba, grabbed and held my attention!

In case you don’t know, Ms. Brown was the original Mary Poppins, in its Broadway incarncation, and this album is a testament to how she landed this prestigious engagement. I would have preferred she had opened the disc with one of the uptempo selections (“Saturday Night Is The Lonliest Night Of The Week” or “Let’s Fall In Love”), as she fares best with these.

Her voice is quite lovely and the arrangements lush, but it’s when she kicks up the tempo a bit that she really sparkles. You can truly sense the fun she has singing them. This collection, though, is mostly ballads and they tend to sound somewhat alike.

All of the songs here are extremely familiar, nothing wrong with that, but I would have enjoyed a couple lesser-known pieces for the sake of variety. Yet a catalog of American Song Standards was the agenda here and the arrangements don’t steer very far from the one’s we know which might have added a little color as well.

Still, they are all terrific songs and Ms. Brown acquits herself admirably in each of them. Included in this collection are such standards as “If I Were A Bell,” “As Time Goes By,” “Falling In Love With Love,” “How Long Has This Been Going On” and “I’ll Be Seeing You,” among others.

Overall, the album is a pleasant listen and I look forward to what Ms. Brown may come up with next. Just hoping she’ll step a little further out on a limb next time around. Of special note is a terrific trumpet solo in the midst of “My Funny Valentine.” Sadly, the copy I have of the CD was without liner notes, and I cannot give just credit where it is fully due. ~Daryl Glenn