Stacey Kent - Tenderly (2015) [Hi-Res]

Stacey Kent has always delivered her music tenderly and has shone best on standards from the Great American Songbook. Thus, it's appropriate that she returns to the pages of the Great American Songbook and performs some of its most romantic ballads with only a guitar, a bass fiddle and an occasional woodwind. However, two of her three accompanists are tried and tested musicians. Alternating between the saxophone and the flute is Stacey's longtime accompanist and husband, Jim Tomlinson, while the guitarist is Brazilian master Roberto Menescal himself. The performances here stay true to the tender theme of the album. Even when a swing beat is injected into standards like Tangerine and No Moon At All, the mood remains warm and cozy while the rest of the ballads in the album also contribute to the after-hours feel of the album which is perfect for de-stressing after a hard day's work. Although the arrangements do the album justice by remaining original, Stacey's mostly straightforward readings of these standards with a thinner voice (due to aging) lack that certain zest which jazz albums usually possess. If one is looking for the entire oeuvre of Stacey Kent's musicianship, check out her earlier albums like Let Yourself Go, In Love Again, The Boy Next Door and especially her husband's 2006 album, The Lyric.