Fresh from a worldwide tour on the back of the success of her award-winning album, I Know I Dream, (Jazz Japan Awards, ‘Best Vocal Album of 2018'), The Folly Theater is thrilled to present Grammy-nominated Stacey Kent, with a program of Bossa Nova, jazz standards and original songs by Jim Tomlinson, Cliff Goldmacher, and Nobel Prize-winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro. Her unique interpretative gift makes even the familiar sounds fresh and the new sound familiar. The Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Folly Theater, Kansas City MO, as part of the 37th Annual Folly Theater Jazz Series.  SEE KCUR PAGE

In September, one of modern jazz's smoothest vocalists will take the stage in Singapore. Stacey Kent has had an illustrious, 20-year-long career, her most recent release being 2017's critically acclaimed I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions. Within the 12 tracks (and 2 bonus ones) of I Know I Dream, Kent covers significant ground, demonstrating her facility in English, French and Portuguese with chansons, bossa nova, standards, and also original songs written for her by composer Jim Tomlinson and Kazuo Ishiguro – yup, that Ishiguro, the Nobel prize-winning novelist who penned Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day. We talked to Kent about her long, collaborative relationship with Kazuo Ishiguro, the orchestral aspects of I Know I Dream, what her Singaporean fans can look forward to, and the human thrill of sharing music.       READ THE bandwagon Q&A   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Calibri; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Calibri; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

Stacey Kent's mezzo-soprano voice is a beautiful instrument for offsetting orchestral accompaniment, a fact that I KNOW I DREAM illustrates well. The orchestra, a 52-piece London studio assemblage, has a lushness that would smother Nelson Riddle - yet Kent cuts through it effortlessly. In fairness, the arrangements hardly compete with Kent. But the singer has a relatively soft, restrained voice that on a less-skilled performer might easily be overpowered. Kent is incisive even at a near-whisper, as on the tender arrangement of Jobim's "Photograph." Her voice becomes a featured instrument against saxophonist Jim Tomlinson's vivacious samba "Make It Up." Indeed the effect in a song with a segmented lyric line, like the French-language "Avec le Temps," is very much like a concerto, with rich strings blooming in the spaces Kent leaves. Along with the Jobim and other standards are several originals, composed by Tomlinson and several lyricists. One of the two best songs, the latter role is author Kazuo Ishiguro's - Kent's longtime collaborator and a Nobel laureate. "Bullet Train" puts Kent in a dream, with familiar faces around her. The closing "The Changing Lights" is I KNOW I DREAM's crown jewel, a bittersweet memory that could be a companion piece to Joni Mitchell's  "The Last Time I Saw Richard." It's the capstone of a nearly perfect vocal jazz album.  -  Michael J. West  p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

With over 2 million albums sold, a Grammy nomination and international recognition as one of the most successful and prolific jazz vocalist of her time, Stacey Kent stands strong among the artists that don't have much left to prove. Kent's brand new album, I Know I Dream, was recorded inside the famous Angel Studios in London with an orchestra of around 60 musicians, her first orchestral album in a career that spans two decades and more than 15 albums. So when Sony and OKeh asked her about making an album with a big orchestra, she felt this was the moment: "It's not every day that you get a call about a project with 58 musicians! Nowadays everyone tries to be reasonable but Sony had a real artistic vision".  SK was recently interviewed by Stockholm - Sweeden's svt>. Watch and listen to the interview

Stacey Kent, one of the most successful and internationally recognized jazz singers and recording artists with over 2 million records sold is our guest on this show. 2017 saw the release of her first orchestral album, I Know I Dream, in a discography of more than 15 albums. I Know I Dream is quite simply an aural feast, and Stacey Kent is one of the truly great singers of our time.  Listening to her work, I understand why artists from the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro to the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena have all found inspiration and awe in her singing. Listen to the attached interview and meet this incredible artist here on The Paul Leslie Hour and if you listen to her music, expect to be swept away. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #263e0f} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #263e0f; min-height: 14.0px}

Stacey Kent has practically done it all over the past twenty years, selling north of two million albums, putting her gorgeously delicate stamp on standards, introducing fresh tunes into the canon, racking up awards, and bringing her flawless voice to fans in more than fifty countries. But one thing she hadn't done prior to this point is record an album with an orchestra. Cross that one off the list now and bathe your ears in this spellbinding music. 

With I Know I Dream, Kent's voice receives a warm embrace from a sizeable orchestra containing nearly sixty musicians. But rather than force her to play up to sweeping peaks or grandiose ideals, the strings and winds manage to magnify the warmth and confidential tone endemic to Kent's work. Somehow, this influx of sounds leads to an even further dimming of the lights and sharpening of the emotional intent. It's intoxicating understatement at its finest.  READ THE FULL all about jazz REVIEW

Stacey Kent is always a delight, and one of the most worldly singers I know. She recently came to Newark to talk with me about her new orchestral album, I Know I Dream, and to sing some of the songs with her group. She sang some of the French and Brazilian songs from the album, as well as several songs that her arranger/saxophonist/husband Jim Tomlinson wrote with Kazuo Ishiguro, this year's Nobel Laureate for Literature. She was just in Stockholm for Ishiguro's ceremony, and she's headed back to the continent now, after a week's engagement at Birdland.   ISAIAH MCCLAIN / WBGO LISTEN TO THE WBGO: Newark NJ SEGMENT p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; min-height: 13.0px}

It was just a matter of time before this was about to take shape: Stacey Kent recording with a full orchestra. The arrangements are by Tommy Laurence, the sessions took place in London up until May of this year and Jim Tomlinson produced the album which really suits her fine. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; min-height: 13.0px} There are a lot of similarities to the big orchestral albums that Antonio Carlos Jobim recorded with the great Claus Ogerman (like "Jobim" from 1972 or "Terra Brasilis" from 1980) on the first two Jobim tunes, "Double Rainbow" and "Photograph". The lushness is there and the ostentatious flute/sax parts. But more modern sounds are featured here as well, like on the Rhodes-induced "La Rua Madureira", sung in French. Graham Harvey‘s Fender Rhodes playing on this one makes up for a nice change here because I think that full orchestra albums with vocals somtimes tend to be a bit too much. READ THE FULL ginalovesjazz REVIEW

Vocalist Stacey Kent is somewhat of a rarity - an artist who originally didn't aspire to be one. And even more rare, her musical partner of 26 years, her husband Jim Tomlinson, didn't either. These two accidental touring musicians, part of a quintet, come to the Manchester Craftmen's Guild's Jazz Concert Hall for two shows Saturday behind Ms. Kent's latest album, "I Know I Dream," released in October. The tour, Kent says, is "a mixed bag because some selections are the five of us, and some are with an orchestra, The show that we do at the Guild is with the quintet." READ THE FULL Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

Soft toned and bohemian vocalist Stacey Kent adds texture to her patented soft delivery by including an orchestra on this luscious album. The team of Jim Tomlinson/wwinds, Graham Harvey-p-key, John Paricelli/g, Jeremy Brown/b and Joshua Morrison/dr is augmented by rich and sensitive strings, making her voice team with Tomlinson's flute on "Double Rainbow" and "La Rua Madureira" to create flowing linen drapes of sound. She mixes and matches moods and arrangements, as her delicate delivery works well with the percussion on the upbeat "Make It Up" and glides over the organ on the soulful "Bullet Train," but for the most part she sashays to "Les Amour Perdues" and gets intimate and delicate on "I Know I Dream." Misty evenings. SEE Jazz Weekly PAGE

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px} Elle en avait rêvé, elle l'a fait.... La chanteuse de jazz américaine Stacey Kent a enregistré avec un orchestre symphonique son nouvel album "I know I dream". Les arrangements sont signés de son mari de longue date le saxophoniste Jim Tomlinson. Le résultat est enchanteur : elle évite les écueils du sirop orchestral. Sa voix est impeccable, le phrasé parfait, y compris quand elle chante en français Serge Gainsbourg, Léo Ferré et Nino Ferrer. Car Stacey Kent est parfaitement francophone : elle a appris avec son grand-père, qui a vécu à Paris. Rencontre avec Stacy Kent à l'occasion de sa tournée européenne dans la chronique culture "Demandez le programme" de l'émission "64 Minutes - le monde en français" avec Jean-Baptiste Urbain   eng. trans
She had dreamed of it, she did it .... American jazz singer Stacey Kent recorded with a symphonic orchestra her new album "I know I dream". Arrangements are signed by her long-time husband saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. The result is enchanting: it avoids the pitfalls of orchestral syrup. Her voice is impeccable, the phrasing perfect, including when she sings in French Serge Gainsbourg, Léo Ferré and Nino Ferrer. Because Stacey Kent is perfectly French-speaking: she learned with her grandfather, who lived in Paris. Meeting with Stacy Kent on the occasion of his European tour in the cultural column "Ask the program" of the program "64 Minutes - the world in French" with Jean-Baptiste Urbain p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

As cool and sophisticated as crushed ice in a cocktail, as wispy and untroubled as a passing cloud, singer Stacey Kent has carved out a distinctive persona for herself, and stuck with it. Here, she presents the 14th album she has made under her own name - 15th if you count The Lyric, released under the name of husband Jim Tomlinson. I Know I Dream was recorded with an orchestra arranged by Tommy Laurence and conducted by Tomlinson, who also produced. And who wouldn't love to be able to write sleeve notes as follows: "Thanks to my lyricist Kazuo Ishiguro…" (she mentions a couple of other people as well, but still…)  READ THE FULL LondonJazzNews REVIEW p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060}

Yet another woman singer although Stacey Kent is hardly just 'another woman singer'! Over the years, with a shelf full of highly acclaimed albums, her position near the top end of the pecking order is undisputed and this latest one only serves to consolidate that position. The voice is as silky and appealing as always, not least when she sings in her impeccable French. The nuances of that language, to me, seem to lend themselves to jazz almost as much as the varying shades of the American accent do. Often more so. The idea of a 58 piece orchestra may seem a daunting prospect to both singer and listener. Not so. The arrangements are so skilfully crafted that singer and strings are as one and when Jim Tomlinson floats in on tenor one can't help but think of those albums that Stan Getz made with Eddie Sauter; Jim has that Getzian fluidity about his playing. READ FULL bebop spoken here - Review by Lance p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060}

Jazz vocalist Stacey Kent and her husband, tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, return to Salt Lake City on Monday, March 20, at the Capitol Theatre for a concert featuring music from the Great American Songbook. "We haven't toured as much (this year)," Kent said in an interview. "Every year has a different rhythm and this year we've been smarter about our touring. Even though we're relaxing, Jim and I are working on a big project. It's an orchestral composition with a 53-piece orchestra, and Jim has written some beautiful new songs." p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px} READ THE FULL Deseret News ARTICLE

YORK jazz promoter J-Night returns to York Theatre Royal tonight to present American singer Stacey Kent. "Fans of the Great American Songbook won't want to miss this opportunity to see one of the world's leading jazz vocalists performing here in York," says J-Night director David Porter. "It will be an evening of timeless classics performed by some of the most accomplished musicians playing today." Kent, 48, enjoys her York shows as much as any. "I've played the Theatre Royal a few times before; we play so many different venues around the world, mostly theatres, and it's fun to play different rooms with different acoustics," she says. READ THE FULL York Press ARTICLE p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Helvetica; min-height: 12.0px}

If you want the perfect jazz album to keep you company during rainy days, you can't go wrong with Stacey Kent's "Tenderly," the Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist's collaboration with producer-husband Jim Tomlinson (on tenor saxophone and alto flute), Jeremy Brown (on bass) and 78-year-old Brazilian arranger Roberto Menescal (on guitar)-who just happens to be one of the founding fathers of the bossa nova sound! The eight-track collection is made particularly significant by the fact that Kent and Menescal have been admiring each other's musicality long before their paths crossed in fortuitous serendipity in 2011, at the Show de Paz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The chance encounter paved the way for Kent to collaborate with her idol, who's famous for a genre that has had a major impact on her musical aesthetic. For Menescal, meeting Stacey was the realization of his dream to record jazz standards with one of his favorite songstresses. READ THE FULL Inquirer.net REVIEW

The jazz singer Stacey Kent is an artist who isn't merely content to celebrate her musical influences from a distance: She goes directly to the source. The list of musicians with whom she works includes the founders of bossa nova, which forms an essential part of her international repertoire. That involves visiting Brazil. Her latest collaborator is the composer, producer, singer and guitarist Robert Menescal, who worked on her 2015 album, "Tenderly." Celebrating "Tenderly" at Birdland on Tuesday evening, accompanied by her band - Art Hirahara on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass and Josh Morrison on drums - Ms. Kent and Mr. Tomlinson's opening set mixed bossa nova classics by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Mr. Valles with American standards, including samba-flavored arrangements of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "People Will Say We're in Love" and "Happy Talk." They played a mischievous Serge Gainsbourg song, "Ces Petits Riens," and an engaging curiosity, "If I'm Lucky," a vintage hit for the '50s crooner Perry Como, on whom Ms. Kent lavished extravagant praise. READ THE FULL New York Times REVIEW

Stacey Kent loves telling stories – it's just that she does it while singing. Her timeless, soothing voice is both fragile and soulful. She gently gathers lyrics, makes them her own then relays her story to her grateful audience. Stacey's unique performance has seen her sell out at venues as diverse as Ronnie Scott's nightclub in London and jazz festivals around the world. Next month, she stops off at The Brewhouse in Taunton, the sort of intimate venue where her jazz voice is really suited. "Jazz allows me to express myself very honestly," she explains. "It's not a theatrical style. I wanted to sing in a way which was very natural, where you could put your own personality into it. Something very natural and also physical. "I'm a lover of all kinds of singers though. For me, I sing how I speak really. It sounds the same." It's hardly surprising that Jamie Cullen described Stacey as "sitting on top of the world of jazz vocals, for many years". Her Brewhouse concert will feature music from her latest album, Tenderly (Sony Records). READ THE FULL Somerset County Gazette LISTING

American Jazz singer Stacey Kent is back touring the UK in April and May with husband Jim Tomlinson, The couple resently released their new Sony (OKeh) album, Tenderly which features Kent and Brazilian composer, producer, guitarist/vocalist Roberto Menescal. Female First got the opportunity to catch up with the singer to find out all about her music, what it is she loves about visiting London and much more. Read on to find out what she had to say
 

On the next JAZZ AMERICA program from the Voice of America, there are so many reasons why Stacey Kent and Roberto Menescal should never have met, let alone formed a friendship based on mutual admiration and shared artistic vision, that the very existence of this album, Tenderly (OKeh) is close to miraculous. Stacey Kent – for whom jazz and the "Great American Songbook" formed the musical wallpaper of her East Coast adolescence – viewed Brazilian music with much the same fascination as that with which Menescal had viewed American jazz a generation earlier. Each went on to become an important figure in their own musical sphere. Roberto Menescal began his musical journey in the 1950s as a student in Rio de Janeiro. As an admirer of the exotic sounds of American jazz and popular song, one of his early idols was the jazz guitarist Barney Kessel. Voice of America, heard by an estimated audience of 134 million listeners each weekend on the entertainment service VOA1 and on the worldwide VOA service via shortwave transmission.  Stacey Kent's 'no moon at all' from (tenderly) will air on this week's VOA: Jazz America  Here's a list of the full show  - JAZZ AMERICA...SHOW #1727…13-14 FEBRUARY 2016               HOUR 1 JAVON JACKSON…love & happiness (pleasant valley)  SARAH VAUGHN…if this isn't love (live @ Newport jazz festival 1957)  * Lisa Hilton Interview  LISA HILTON…whirlwind (nocturnal)  DR. LONNIE SMITH…African suite (evolution)  KENNY BURRELL…salty papa (the road to love)  DIANNE REEVES…love for sale (in the moment-live in concert)  * Randy Brecker Interview  RANDY BRECKER…I've got a bag of my own (randypop)  LARRY CORYELL & 11TH HOUSE…adam smasher (introducing the eleventh house)                HOUR TWO...  JAZZ AMERICA...SHOW #1728…13-14 FEBRUARY 2016  MAYNARD FERGUSON…the lady's in love (dues)  STACEY KENT…no moon at all (tenderly)  * Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist)Interview  JAGA JAZZIST…prugen (starfire)  McCOY TYNER…passion dance (the real mccoy-1967)  BILLIE HOLIDAY…god bless the child (1941)  HANK CRAWFORD…don't you worry ‘bout a thing (don't you worry ‘bout a thing)  * Christian McBride Interview  CHRISTIAN McBRIDE TRIO…carwash (live at the village vanguard)  HERBIE HANCOCK…love is stronger than pride (the new standard) *Hear Jazz America live online in the Eastern time zone on Saturday from Midnight-2 AM (That's 10 PM-Midnight, Friday night, Pacific time) and Sunday from 9-11 AM Eastern time (That's 6-9 AM Pacific). Listen live at http://www.VOAMusicMix.Net  *Listen on Shortwave:  1300 GMT/UTC Saturdays and Sundays
Africa - 4.95 6.08 13.57 15.58 17.895 mhz
Middle East and Europe - 12.005 15.53 mhz
Asia and Pacific - 7.43 7.575 9.7 12.15 mhz
Jazz America with Russ Davis   

The Isle of Wight's Newport Jazz Weekend, now in its fifth year, has announced its 2016 edition which will run from Wednesday 1 June to Sunday 5 June. The Newport Jazz Weekend is a self-funded festival run by volunteers and musicians from the vibrant local scene: the 2016 festival is slightly bigger than last year's successful event and is notable for a wide range of performers. 

The programme combines local musicians with some of the best names in UK jazz and one or two international stars. Taking place in half-term week, it provides an ideal opportunity to combine jazz with a holiday in one of the UK's favourite destinations. The concerts centre on the Apollo Theatre but the weekend programme covers a variety of venues including the Quay Arts Theatre and the Medina Theatre. The Newport Jazz Weekend closes with a concert by vocalist Stacey Kent at the Medina Theatre. READ THE FULL Jazz Journal PREVIEW

Among the prouder acclaims of jazz as a music these days (and, in fact, since the age of radio) is its joyful protection of the "little" voice in a world of pop, rock and classical music devoted to making the voices and settings larger than they are (and, often enough, larger than they ought to be.) The wittiest and greatest of all jazz' "little voices" will always be the late, great Blossom Dearie. But her once inimitable legacy has, somewhat incredibly, expanded in the 21st century. Among the several "little voices" in jazz in an era where voices lead the way in popularity is New Jersey's Stacey Kent, the singer in her late '40s who teams up here in the most intimate possible way with 78-year old Brazilian guitarist Roberto Menescal, one of the lesser known early apostles of Bossa Nova. To maintain this record's quiet charm all the way through, there's no drummer on the disc, only Jeremy Brown on bass and an occasional lyric aria from Kent's husband, tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. Kent and Menescal were brought together by a Brazilian DJ named Bob Tortas. It was he who brought Kent's version of "Isn't it A Pity" to Menescal and his wife and made this collaboration possible. Menescal may be thinking of Julie London and Barney Kessel as he plays but the result, on this album of standards and Great American Songbook classics, may also remind some of '50's New York guitar master Mundell Lowe. In its vehement intimacy, it is a kind of stubborn "littleness" in jazz recording that is paradoxically always bigger. SEE ALL THE REVIEWS FROM THE Buffalo News Listening Post

This intimate 12-track collection is Stacey Kent's first standards album since her 2003 recording, "The Boy Next Door." It sees the US-born, London-based vocalist team up with the legendary Brazilian composer and guitarist, Roberto Menescal, one of the founders of Bossa Nova and winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards.    Menescal and Kent have teamed up before, on her previous album, "The Changing Lights" (2013) but hearing the fruits of their close musical relationship unfold over the course of an entire album is a real joy. Whether it's the profound sadness of ‘There Will Never Be Another You' or the mid-tempo swing of ‘No moon At All', these spare and sparse arrangements, with only Kent's husband, Jim Tomlinson on tenor sax and flute, and bassist Jeremy Brown for company, go right to the heart of the song. From the scene-setting ‘Only Trust Your Heart' to the title track, tempos are, on the whole, extremely slow, allowing the listener to fully appreciate the mellifluous dovetailing of voice and guitar. This is an extremely beautiful meeting of minds.     JAZZWISE spoke to Stacey Kent and Jim Tomlinson about the album:   PQ: THEY SAY NEVER MEET YOUR HEROES. DID RECORDING WITH MENESCAL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS?   SK: It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. We became good friends and spent a lot of time together, emailing each other back and forth, sharing a lot of thoughts and stories. Menescal carries the sensibility of Bossa Nova with him wherever he goes, and whatever he does. Even though this is a standards album, that universe is ever-present.   PQ: IN TERMS OF PHRASING AND THE BEAUTIFUL RUBATO, MENESCAL'S GUITAR PLAYING SUGGESTS A COMPLETE CONSANGUINITY OF MIND WITH YOUR OWN APPROACH. IS THIS SOMETHING YOU FELT?   SK: So intensely, we felt it from the minute we met. It was such a lightning strike of a friendship, and I think it's because we had such a shared vision of the world and music. Even the way he plays the guitar: he's one of the only Bossa Novaists who plays electric guitar. But he plays it with his fingers, there's no plectrum. There's a real intimacy and total connection, and so much space.   PQ: TEMPO IS ALL IMPORTANT. WHO COUNTED OFF THE SONGS?   JT: It was Menescal who was driving the arranging process, and they very much have his signature arranging touches as well, in terms of the way things are harmonised and modulations, and so on. But the tempos are driven by where the lyric sits: what's the right tempo for the number of words you've got to sing, and for the sentiment that's being expressed?   PQ: WITH THE STRIPPED DOWN INSTRUMENTATION - NO PIANO, NO DRUMS - THE FOCUS OF THE LISTENER'S ATTENTION IS COMPLETELY ON THE VOICE. DID YOU FIND THAT LIBERATING OR TERRIFYING?   SK: There was definitely pressure on me because there's nowhere to hide on this album - it's the most exposed album I've ever made. I wouldn't say terrified because I felt so utterly comfortable in the presence of these three musicians with whom I was playing. But I knew I had to step up to the plate.   - Peter Quinn / Jazzwise / Sony/OKeh Records. 4-star review ****

If, like me, you've been hoping that Stacey Kent would one day make another album of classic American songs, here it is at last. It's a collaboration with the veteran Brazilian guitarist-composer-producer Roberto Menescal, who, it turns out, knows this repertoire intimately. With just two other musicians - Jim Tomlinson, on tenor saxophone and flute, and bassist Jeremy Brown – they treat songs such as Only Trust Your Heart, If I'm Lucky and the title number with the understanding and affection they deserve. Deceptively simple, meticulously presented, each of the 12 tracks is a little gem. Kent's soft, light voice is as persuasive as ever, and the playing is, of course, immaculate. SEE THE FULL guardian PAGE

Watching Stacey Kent perform Portuguese music with her producer, writer, arranger, and saxophonistJim Tomlinson (who also happens to be her husband) has got to be the next best thing to actually being in Brazil. As she exhibited last night at Birdland for two shows, Kent gets this genre perhaps better than any other contemporary American performer. She performs with palpable sensitivity and infectious joie de viere. Translated songs or those written by Tomlinson with such collaborators as author Kazu Ishiguro and poet Antonio Ladeira are phrased with deep romanticism and offered with refreshingly unfussy brio. "Listen . . . listen . . . " Kent whispers . . . rain is falling on the roses . . . she sings, beginning the show with "Double Rainbow," stepping side to side, eyes closed . . . the sun is going down in your eyes/I see the colors of the sea . . .There's a caressing ssss sound like frothy caps on small waves; the swishing of brushes (Josh Morrison), languid piano (Art Hirahara), mellow sax (Jim Tomlinson), and bass ballast (Tom Hubbard). We eeease into the evening.   READ THE FULL BroadwayWorld.com REVIEW

Jazz vocalist Stacey Kent returns to Salt Lake City on Feb. 23 at the Capitol Theatre for the first leg of her 2015 world tour. It's no surprise that Salt Lake City is one of only three stops in the United States for Kent this year. This is her fifth visit to the Jazz SLC concert series. "I don't always tour as much as I did last year," Kent said over a Skype interview during a family ski trip in Aspen, Colorado. "My husband (tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson) and I were in 30 countries, and my body needs rest. I've accepted only three concerts in the States because the venues are so special to me. I agreed to come back to Salt Lake because of the jazz series Gordon Hanks has developed and because I feel such a powerful connection to the landscape and the people of Utah. We get each other." READ THE FULL Deseret News ARTICLE

Stacey Kent has had an impressive musical run: Breakfast on the Morning Tram (Blue Note, 2007, for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award), Raconte- moi... (Blue Note, 2010), Dreamer In Concert (Blue Note, 2011) just being her previous three recordings of her ten releases as a leader. She is intelligent, polyglot and capable of performing in any genre or language. Her voice is one of soft evenness, it has a delicate density that extend over her impressive range. She is a singer's singer.

Leaving Blue Note and taking up with Warner Bros, Kent produces a beautifully light recital based in Bossa Nova on The Changing Light. Her approach, differing from her peers who have attempted the humid climes of Brazil's contribution to world music, is one characterized by a soft, gentle and precise touch and tone. There is nothing overwrought or heavy handed about the production herein. Kent sings with a natural purr that is both superb and sincere. She manages French and Portuguese seamlessly on adapted compositions by multireedist Jim Tomlinson on "Chason Legere" and "A Tarde."

Kent sings the standard "Like a Lover" like she wrote it, accompanied sensitively by guitarist John Parricelli. By this time into the disc, one would be curious how Kent would treat a warhorse like "Corcovado." Well, it is a bonus track and Kent gives the piece a nervous edge over Tomlinson's tactile and anxious arrangement. Kent is all grace and sophistication on The Changing Light. -C. Michael Bailey

For another twist on the bossa formula, there's jazz singer Stacey Kent's The Changing Lights (Warner), which has its elegant, old-style bossa swing along with playful English-language lyrics. The New Jersey-born Kent chooses seven bossa chestnuts, but goes for the English versions for most. In addition, she sings several new songs in the bossa style written by her husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson, including two with lyrics by the Japanese-born British writer Kazuo Ishiguro. One of these originals, "The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain," echoes the wistful tone of saudade, the nostalgia-like mix of sadness and happiness that embues so much of Brazilian music. The nice thing about her singing in English -- whether intentional or not -- is it helps Americans hear the emotional complexity that accompanies the harmonies of the best of bossa. As befitting the quiet genre, Kent's voice is all spun sugar, lithely gliding along the playful melodies. With the gentle insistence of her band behind her, Kent effortlessly recreates the intelligence and life-loving spirit of the original bossa innovators. READ THE FULL Huffington Post ARTICLE.

"Je voudrai te faire un chanson legere, comme un bulle de savon, un nuage de cotton, un aile de papillon," sings Stacey Kent in the closing moments of her newest CD The Changing Lights. In other words: "I would like to make for you a light song, like a soap bubble, like a cotton cloud, like a butterfly wing," the 46-year-old American singer based in London, England, sings in perfect French. (She's even more convincing in Portuguese, by the way.) Kent's words, sung while an airy bossa nova groove wafts behind her, apply not only to the disc's closer, but to the first-listen impact of most of the album's 13 tracks. The Changing Lights plays to Kent's longstanding strength, which is to marry her mellow, gamine voice to a selection of smooth, impeccably crafted songs. But don't be misled by the exceptional polish and immediate lightness of The Changing Lights. Beneath the smooth surface, the emotional waters can be deep. READ THE FULL Ottawa Citizen review.

Birdland packs in a crowd most nights a week, but last Saturday it was standing room only. Apparently, you must arrive early to find a table at a Stacey Kent performance. I hit Midtown with half an hour to spare and was lucky to find a tiny space at the bar. The Grammy-award nominated vocalist seemed to notice this too. Kent strode on to the stage, grinning wildly (reminiscent of Mary Lou Retton) and expressed her gratitude.  Kent and her band are currently in the middle of a world tour, promoting their new album, The Changing Lights. The new album (her tenth) has been described by the singer as a "profoundly Brazilian record." Partnering with her husband and saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, the two have written a love letter to the country. The album features a mix of bossa nova originals and standards, arranged almost entirely by Tomlinson. The dedication to Brazilian culture is clear: Kent sings (and writes) in Portuguese, even enlisting the songwriting of a founding father of bossa nova, the composer/guitarist/vocalist Roberto Menescal. READ THE FULL WNYC: New York concert review

It's not every day that Clint Eastwood asks you to sing at his 70th birthday party. But for multi-award winning jazz star Stacey Kent, every day is a whirlwind ‘dream come true'. Having performed in major venues and festivals all over the world, the American singer already boasts celebrity fans including Michael Parkinson, Sir David Frost and ‘text buddy' Aerosmith's Steve Tyler – and it's not hard to see why. Listening to Stacey's heart melting and seemingly effortless vocals is a lifting yet emotional experience, making her the worthy winner of the British Jazz Award and BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist and Album of the Year. But despite her awards and famous followers, Stacey is still as humble as ever and is now on a limited tour of the UK, coming to the Queen's Theatre in Hornchurch and giving fans a rare opportunity to hear tracks from her new album The Changing Lights live in concert. READ THE FULL Enquirer INTERVIEW.

Stacey Kent, The Changing Lights (Warner Bros): Kent's voice might be called light, but perhaps it's more accurate to describe it as fragile, emotionally fragile. That's often true of the 15 songs she includes. At times in the past, particularly when she started, Kent was piquant, not to say perky. That's less the situation now. The shift may have to do with the Brazilian music she favors and has mastered to such an extent that composers in that country rank her with the best of their home-grown singers. Take, for instance, Vinicius de Moraes's "How Insensitive" and its devastating Norman Gimbel lyrics. Behind Kent's floating notes is the anguish of love gone wrong simply because that's how it goes all too often. The evanescence of love, of romance is a recurrent theme for Kent. It's definitely the motivating factor behind two songs, "The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain" and the title tune, which are both written by Kent's saxophonist-producer-arranger husband Jim Tomlinson and the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. The Tomlinson-Ishiguro team, who've taken to writing regularly for Kent, is formidable. Almost everything they offer has the melancholy feeling of love that's not everlasting but neverlasting. (What a contrast to the noticeably happy Kent-Tomlinson marriage!) Tomlinson's arrangements are always nuanced and unhurried. They're the perfect match for Kent's enormous talents.

Stacey Kent is a jazz success story-not just in terms of her talent, but also in terms of her international popularity, with her previous three albums clocking up a total of over 500,000 sales. What makes her so successful? The Changing Lights, her tenth album, demonstrates all of the qualities. There's the material, a mix of originals and standards: the arrangements, all but one by Jim Tomlinson, which act to highlight Kent's vocal qualities: the musicians, a veritable who's who of the best in UK jazz. Above all, there's her voice-light but expressive, engaging and evocative, whether she's singing in English, French or Portuguese.   READ THE FULL Republic of Jazz REVIEW

Blue Note France has signed the London-based American jazz singer Stacey Kent to an exclusive worldwide recording deal. Her Blue Note debut, Breakfast on the Morning Tram, which is a charming mix of standards, pop covers, French chansons, and original songs, will be released in the U.S. on October 2. The album was produced by Kent's husband, tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, whose latest album The Lyric featured Kent's vocals, and won Best Album at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. "Blue Note is the label that just feels right," says Kent. "It's the label I dreamed of as a kid. Signing with Blue Note, I feel like Steffi Graf must have felt the first time she stepped onto court to play Martina Navratilova. I've always had enormous respect for Blue Note and for the artists on the label. So many personalities and different ways of expressing music and always with such integrity and soul. To be part of this family and history is a dream come true." Breakfast on the Morning Tram marks Kent's return to the studio after a four-year recording hiatus. The album's title refers to the start of something new; a journey in a new direction, and takes its name from one of four new original songs-the first originals that Kent has ever recorded-that were written especially for her by Tomlinson and acclaimed author Kazuo Ishiguro, a winner of the Booker and Whitbread prizes for such literary works as The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. Kent's association with Ishiguro began in 2002 when he named her recording of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from the album Let Yourself Go as one of his choices on the BBC Radio show Desert Island Classics. Subsequently, he wrote the liner notes for Kent's album In Love Again. Ishiguro's understanding of her art gave her the idea that he would be the ideal lyricist for her and thus, along with Tomlinson, they began collaborating on songs for her debut Blue Note debut including "The Ice Hotel," "I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again," "So Romantic," and the title track. "Nothing has ever been quite so exciting as having songs written especially for me by two people I admire so much. Both Jim and Kazuo Ishiguro seem to understand me so implicitly that it seems as though I have always known their songs," says Kent. "Kazuo's lyrics are like short stories and don't follow conventional song forms. Jim's melodies seem to capture the mood of the lyrics perfectly. The musical worlds they create just knock me out!" Having lived and studied in Paris, like her grandfather before her, Kent grew up steeped in French music and literature. She has always felt a tremendous connection between herself and her audiences, but she feels a special connection with her French fans. Her 2003 album The Boy Next Door reached Gold status in France and her new album includes two of her favourite French songs by celebrated songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, "Ces Petits Riens" and "La Saison Des Pluies." Kent also has a love of cinema which comes through in her repertoire. "Samba Saravah" comes from the film Un Homme et Une Femme by French director Claude Lelouch. Similarly, "Hard Hearted Hannah" was inspired by Ella Fitzgerald's famous version in the movie, Pete Kelly's Blues. These light-hearted, playful songs capture the sense of fun that Kent conveys, especially in her live performances. Though Kent is steeped in the Great American Songbook, she also loves American folk and pop music. Both she and Tomlinson play the guitar and sing, finding inspiration in the mountains of Colorado where they vacation, so it was fitting that they include a stunning version of the beautiful Fleetwood Mac song "Landslide," which was written by Stevie Nicks in Aspen. Even through the bittersweet, an unyielding optimism underpins Kent's interpretations. "What a Wonderful World", "So Many Stars," and "Never Let Me Go" are ideal vehicles for her delicate balance of joie de vivre with her understanding of how to temper sadness. Joy and pain go hand in hand in her music. "The subjects that I want to sing about have broadened," she says. "I am older and have had more life experiences. So naturally, I want to find a way to bring that into my music. I feel secure enough to be able to sing the songs that are quite simply me. As the lyrics to 'Landslide' sagaciously utter, 'time makes you bolder, even chidren get older.' I can balance romance and realism in a more realistic and mature way." "I am very proud to present this first album with my new band. The last year has been one of exciting musical growth and I feel that we have captured that [growth] on this album. A huge part of the fun in being a musician for me is that I get to grow and go on this musical journey with Jim. We are sharing our life experiences through the music." "There are some recurrent themes on this album; traveling (both literally and metaphorically), making choices, and renewal seem to be the big three-and all are acutely personal. They were not consciously chosen but they were certainly at play in my subconscious when selecting the repertoire for the album. And the title track, 'Breakfast On The Morning Tram,' serves as an umbrella for these themes more than any other song."