Stacey Kent – Time For Love

“The entire project is both spare and impossibly lush. While this may sound like a contradiction, it has everything to do with the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and Jim Tomlinson as well as Stacey’s elegant and unadorned vocal approach.The opening track, “Lucky To Be Me,” works as an invitation to the theme of the album and uses the open space between vocal phrases to draw us in. And, while all of the tracks are worth an unadulterated listen, I’m going to list a few of my favorites starting with “La Javanaise” which is delivered with an almost offhanded musical precision and sung in Stacey’s pitch perfect French. The surprising warmth of Stacey’s lower vocal range makes “A Time For Love” the intimate ballad it was meant to be. Jim’s tenor sax does the same so that his playing is the ideal compliment to Stacey’s voice.The entire album is a joy to listen to both musically and sonically. It was lovingly recorded and mixed by Jim (yet ano