ELLA 100 (Verve) 9/10 Ella Fitzgerald was homeless when in 1934 she entered a talent quest at New York’s Apollo Theatre, intending to dance. Changing to singing at the last moment, she won. Her reputation as a queen among jazz singers, however, is predicated on her work from her mid-thirties…
John Shand | Music & Other Spheres Posts
City Recital Hall, June 6 7.5/10 Singers become stars more easily than instrumentalists do because their voices and faces project personality more readily. And meanwhile they have lyrics for listeners to latch on to. Among current jazz singers Dianne Reeves probably radiates the most warmth as a person, and this…
THE CHILD BALLADS (Lamplight) 9/10 It took an American to systematically compile hundreds of English and Scottish ballads from across the centuries. In so doing Francis James Child (1825-1896) performed not only a massively important task in preserving the cultural heritage of the British Isles, he provided composer Andrew Robson…