Antonia Bennett: Expressions (CAT1332253)
Yet again I find myself pleasantly surprised, albeit with minor reservations, by a new release reminiscent of old-style – i.e. pre-1960 – middle-of-the-road, jazz-inflected pop which may still be heard even today in small jazz clubs, provided you know where to look.
Born in 1974, Antonia Bennett is the daughter of Tony Bennett and his second wife Sandra Grant, albeit her voice is reminiscent of Blossom Dearie, with a tad more heft. Backed by a small West Coast combo – Christian Jacob on piano and keyboards, Kevin Axt bass, Kendall Kay drums and Larry Koonse guitar, she serves up a baker’s dozen tracks with a fairly eclectic range, reaching back to 1930 for the Jimmy McHugh-Dorothy Fields Exactly Like You, and forward to the Sherman Brothers Hushabye Mountain, from the movie, Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang, with stops along the way for Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Once I Loved and Charles Trenet’s You, Who Pass Without Seeing Me, which she performs in the original French – Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir.
Throughout, the band weigh in with some tasty backing, the piano grabbing the lion’s share and guitar seizing what’s left. David Thomas supplies backing vocals on Wherever You Go, and Randy Brecker guests on trumpet and flugelhorn on Hushabye Mountain. Now for the beefs: the best number by a country mile is Cole Porter’s After You, Who?, which, along with How’s Your Romance? and I’ve Got You On My Mind, was completely overshadowed by Night And Day in 1933’s The Gay Divorce. This is a gentle, verging on fragile, ballad, unable to withstand the uptempo treatment it receives here, albeit it is great to hear it again.
Only one more slight negative. It’s becoming increasingly common for new albums to provide minimum background and writer credits, as obtains here. It’s as if performers are oblivious to the fact that without writers they’d have nothing to sing. This is particularly strange in this case, given that Ms Bennett’s father had great respect for writers, and frequently name-checked them in his live performances. That caveat to one side this is a fine album, and I wish it well.
Rollin’ The Dice: Music From The Films Of Martin Scorsese (New Continent 648078)
The word “eclectic” may well have been coined to describe this album, which comprises 27 singles from across the spectrum, their sole commonality the fact that they were heard in seven films directed by Martin Scorsese. Given that I don’t watch Scorsese films I am unable to tell you whether they were heard in full or merely in snatches. What I can tell you is that I have just spent 77 minutes listening to a combination of tracks with which I am familiar – Tony Bennett, Rags To Riches; Dinah Washington, What A Difference A Day Made; Bobby Darin, Beyond The Sea – and/or own – Frank Sinatra, Come Fly With Me – to several performers completely unknown to me: Timi Yuro, Howlin’ Wolf, Santo & Johnny, Mina, Mickey & Sylvia and The Marvelettes, some of whom, I suspect, may have been one-hit wonders. [Or, in the case of Howlin’ Wolf, as Wikipedia puts it, “regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time”. – Ed.] There are yet other categories: performers I have heard of but, perhaps bizarrely, performing standards – Ray Charles, Stella By Starlight; and conversely names completely unknown to me also performing standards – Billy Ward And His Dominoes, Stardust.
I find myself repeating a question I have posed several times of late. Just who is being targeted here by New Continent, given that it’s highly unlikely that someone who is moved by Muddy Waters is going to be indifferent to, for example, Eartha Kitt performing C’est Si Bon entirely in French. [Probably those, unlike you, inspired by Scorsese films? – Ed.] In my own case I found several performers unknown to me – Mina, Il Cielo In Una Stanza, Santo & Johnny, Sleepwalk – to be easy on the ear. Given that not even one demi-semi-quaver was actually composed specifically for a given Scorsese title, it’s reasonable to suppose that fans of the performers gathered here will already own the respective discs. I can only hope this album does find an audience.
