Dani Klein - Dani Sings Billie (2015)

After 20 years with Vaya con Dios and around ten albums recorded, Dani Klein has decided to end this adventure to focus on Billie Holiday's repertoire. She is not the first to pay homage to Lady Day, from Diana Ross to Amy Winehouse, via Nina Simone, Shirley Horn or Abbey Lincoln, and, as she is a centenarian, Cassandra Wilson or Viktor Lazlo. Without reaching the vocal technique of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday seduced above all by her sensuality and expressiveness: two characteristics that Dani Klein shares with the Baltimore singer.
For this tribute album, rather than resuming Billie's "dramatic" repertoire, from Strange Fruit to Gloomy Sunday, Dani opted for love songs, love found again (Comes love, A fine romance) or lost (You let me down), her joy of life (Getting some fun out of life, Having myself a time) as well as her resolutions (I'm gonna lock my heart, Weep no more). A repertoire that reviews songs performed between the thirties (I'm painting the town red from 1935, sung with Teddy Wilson, A fine romance from the film "Swing Time") and fifties (Comes love, recorded with Harry Sweet Edison), passing through the forties (the famous God bless the child for which Billie wrote the lyrics).
Joining him is the faithful Sal La Rocca on double bass, as well as two former members of Vaya con Dios: pianist William Lecomte and trumpeter Tim de Jonghe. The former, a member of Vaya con Dios since 2007, has also accompanied singer Anne Ducros. The latter was a member of the New Groove Sextet alongside Robin Verheyen and Steven Delannoye. His playing, especially on the muted trumpet, is reminiscent of Harry Sweet Edison. On drums, we find Bruno Castellucci, with his unerring drive, who, like Sal La Rocca, has already recorded with Anne Ducros. Finally, guests include two guitarists: the Italian Alessio Menconi, who notably accompanied Paolo Conte (4 tracks), and the most Belgian of Brazilian guitarists, Victor da Costa de Caçamba on "Getting Some Fun" and "Weep No More." Through this repertoire, firmly rooted in the swing (Do Your Duty) and blues (Baby Get Lost) eras, Dani Klein brings a whole chapter of Lady Day's career to life.---Claude Loxhay