Sarah Eden (vocal); Yaniv Taubenhouse (piano); Rick Rosato (bass); Jerad Lippi (drums).
(Review by Lance).
As far back as March, I suggested there would be few vocal albums to match Sarah Eden's Bleu Nuits. There have been a few, but not many. However, here's another one that puts the distinctive voice of Mam'selle Eden back in the frame.
It's smoky and sensuous, melancholy and moving. You don't need O Level French to get the gist of la chanson. The timbre of the voice says it all.
Harlem Nocturne, words by Sarah Eden and David Boubill, an emotive, original, lyric to the Earl Hagen tune.
Sung in French they tell the story of a lament to a lover, Jimmy, who now dances to the music of Fats Waller and Duke Ellington.
Welcome au Big Band du paradis
Swingue Miles Davis
Hello King Louis
Billie et Bessie ont la prunelle blue.
Ten tracks, mainly original - apart from Harlem Nocturne, You Go To My Head is the only other standard. Sung in a delicious jazz cabaret voice that echoes of cafés in Montmartre, the Latin Quarter or a jazz cave on the left bank, the songs exude the emotion that, it often seems, can only be truly expressed when sung in French.
The accompanying trio are sound soloists and sympathetic in support. And if I choose Bleu Nuits it is a split decision and only because of the variety provided by the horn players on the earlier album.
Either way, they're both superb examples of a superb singer singing superb songs.
Lance.
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