Age is just a number, and this album is testament to that. Eighty-three at the time of recording, Beverley Church Hogan returns here to jazz singing after a 60-year gap, having turned down a recording contract with Capital Records in her early 20s. Over the last 15 years or so she’s slowly made her way back to jazz, culminating in this debut recording.
Church Hogan’s vocal has a smoky quality, a pleasantly purring vibrato and a full lower range – listen to her plumb the depths of the gravelly notes in Speak Low with ease. Her slow, deliberate approach to songs like Take My Breath Away conveys great respect for the lyrics and melody as written.
On the whole, this is an album of straight ballads that rarely ventures into jazzier territory, all done at similar low tempo. Yet it’s full of thoughtful attention to detail, precise phrasing and genuine warmth.
Discography
Take My Breath Away; Losing My Mind; You’re Looking at Me; Can’t Get Out of This Mood; Wait Till You See Him; I Know You By Heart; I’m Through With Love; Speak Low; Stuck in a Dream; Time After Time (46.00)
Church Hogan (v); John Proulx (p); Ron Stout (t); Graham Dechter (g); Doug Webb (f, ts); Lyman Medeiros (b); Clayton Cameron (d); Kevin Winard (pc). 2018.
Café Pacific, no number
