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Stacey Kent performs at NYC's Birdland / WNYC concert 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