Gabrielle Ducomble - J'ai Deux Amours (2011)

Tracklist

01. Haven't we Met
02. J'ai Deux Amours
03. Libertango
04. Spring is Here
05. My Little Boat
06. La Chanson des Vieux Amants
07. It Might as Well Be Spring
08. Manha de Carnaval
09. La Javanaise
10. Never Will I Marry
11. That's All



Gabrielle Ducomble: J'ai Deux Amours Belgian singer Gabrielle Ducomble began her recording career in 2003, after reaching the finale of French television's Pop Idol. After hearing Dee Dee Bridgewater Ducomble started to move towards jazz, relocated to London and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. So, while J'ai Deux Amours is not her first recording, it is her jazz debut.

Ducomble's voice is lightly expressive, with a slight vulnerability that adds emotional depth to the more romantic or melancholy songs. Her sound and her choice of composers give her a resemblance to Stacey Kent and to Dutch singer and actress Mathilde Santing. All three are comfortable with the Great American Songbook but are also willing to explore elsewhere—Ducomble covers the songs of French writer Serge Gainsbourg ("La Javanaise") and fellow-Belgian Jacques Brel ("La Chanson Des Vieux Amants") with great sympathy here.

Any vocalist who decides to perform Astor Piazzolla's "Libertango" invites comparison with Grace Jones' darkly erotic version of the song. Ducomble and guitarist Nicolas Meier's arrangement focuses on the drama and mystery of the song to create an original interpretation that complements Jones' own. Meier's guitar playing is exceptional, combining precision and drive to conjure up an air of tension that Chris Garrick takes further with his own powerful, almost threatening violin solo. Garrick's playing is also a highlight of "Mahna de Carnaval," but this time he picks up on the song's melancholy romance to create a beautiful solo filled with longing and regret. He creates a similar mood on "La Chanson des Vieux Amants," weaving in and out of Ducomble's emotive vocal. ~Bruce Lindsay

On the opening verse of "Spring is Here" Ducomble sounds rather nervous and hesitant, and the lyric loses impact as a result. It's oddly uncharacteristic and, given the strength of her vocals on most of the songs—especially "Libertango " and "That's All"—such a lack of confidence is also unexpected. On her own arrangement of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might As Well Be Spring"—from the same '09 session that produced "Spring Is Here"—Ducomble's joyously bright vocal is given terrifically upbeat musical support by the band, with pianist Alex Hutton and trumpeter Andy Davies both contributing solos that perfectly complement the singer's optimism.

J'ai Deux Amours is a welcome debut from a new European jazz vocalist. Ducomble's voice has charm, and her willingness to go beyond the standard vocal repertoire is to be applauded.

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