Joyce Breach - Confessions (1991)

This is Joyce Breach's first Audiophile recording; Songbird was her first album, but it came out when she was residing in Pittsburgh (cassette only) on a local label and was later reissued by Audiophile -- hence the confusion in her discography. Accompanied by the Loonis McGlohan Quartet, the cabaret singer's sound is spick and span clean on an array of pop standards done with reverence. Breach's love for this style shows in her phrasing and understated enthusiasm. A few solids include getting her swing on with "I Wish I Was in Love Again"; "Bored," a lively track that defies its title; and "A Room With a View," which revisits what smooth jazz was before its redefinition in the '70s. Like all her CDs, Confessions' arrest-appeal increases with each track. Or is it that her angelic voice subtly hypnotizes you into the belief that this seemingly released from a time capsule singer is something special?~Confessions Review by Andrew Hamilton