Maureen Kennedy - This Is Always (2006)

Tracklist

01. This Is Always
02. After You
03. Get Out of Town
04. River Man
05. Love Came
06. You For Me
07. Dreamer
08. Let\'s Face the Music and Dance
09. Humpty Dumpty Heart
10. Illusion
11. Winter of My Discontent
12. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

Vocalist Maureen Kennedy developed her love for jazz in her early twenties when she studied for six years with Canadian flugelhorn and trumpet player Fred Stone. The purity of her sound and her restrained use of vibrato developed under his tutelage. She also studied voice with American jazz singer Jay Clayton at the Banff Centre for the Arts as part of their jazz studies program, which was directed by bassist Dave Holland and pianist
Don Thompson. Through the years she has cultivated an extensive repertoire of memorable standards and rediscovered gems that compliment her very personal sound. This is evident in her debut recording This Is Always, which features a selection of classic standards including rarely recorded compositions by Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke, Alec Wilder and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In addition, the arranging talents of pianist Nancy Walker are showcased in covers of two folk songs written by Nick Drake and Sandy Denny. This Is Always was produced by Kieran Overs and engineered by Chad Irschick at Inception Sound studio in Toronto.
Accompanying Maureen on the disc are Toronto based musicians Nancy Walker (piano), Kieran Overs (bass), and Anthony Michelli (drums). Performances at numerous venues and arts events in Toronto have included gigs at The Montreal Bistro, The Rex Jazz Bar, Mezzetta, Rhode’s, Le Select Bistro, the Hart House Jazz Series at the University of Toronto, the Oakwood Village Festival of the Arts. Maureen has also participated in the 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005 Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival and the 2005 Distillery Jazz Festival. Distinguished musicians who have performed with Maureen Kennedy include guitarists Reg Schwager, Ted Quinlan and Roy Patterson, pianists Nancy Walker, Richard Whiteman and Dave Restivo, saxophonist Perry White, drummers Ted Warren and Barry Romberg, and bassists Mike Downes, Jim Vivian and Artie Roth.

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