Over the years I have heard this singer only infrequently, sometimes on record, sometimes live, and every time it is as if I am hearing her for the first time. The reason for this seems to me to lie in the fact that she is constantly rediscovering, or perhaps I should say recreating, herself.
The new Winstone is, at all these various moments in her career, always in superb voice, in complete command, and musically immaculate. It is hard to think of any other singer who has done so much so well and so differently.
Here, she opens with a beautifully poised reading of the Rodgers and Hart song, taken at an unusually slow tempo which she handles with deceptively elegant ease. The rest of the set includes an Ellington, a Strayhorn, a couple of lesser-known gems from the collaboration between Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields and a couple of originals from her pianist on this set, Jimmy Rowles. One has lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and a nice solo by Rowles’s guesting daughter, the other has lyrics by the singer. On Joy Spring Rowles sits out and on It Amazes Me only Mraz backs the singer.
Throughout, there is a feeling of being in the company of masters of their respective arts, but at no time is there any hint of artiness of lack of heart and soul. The sound is excellent and so what if the playing time is less than one might have hoped for? If this album were twice as long it still wouldn’t be enough. Strongly recommended.
Discography
Where Or When; A Timeless Place; I Dream Too Much; It Amazes Me; Prelude To A Kiss; Joy Spring; Remind Me; A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing; Dream Of You; Morning Star (49.50)
Winstone (v); Jimmy Rowles (p); George Mraz (b); Joe La Barbera (d); Stacy Rowles (flh on Morning Star only). LA, October 1993.
(Hot House HHCD 1015)
