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Stacey Kent - The Changing Lights / All About Jazz review

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