By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Interlude
This
is a beautiful album, first-class in every way, starring a multi-talented woman
graced with a flawless voice.
But
it isn’t true jazz.
Lyn
Stanley is quite exceptional. She’s a college graduate with a PhD in communications,
and a successful career in business. She has won championships in USA
DanceSport, and placed third in a World ProAm event. She also has studied voice
under coach Annette Warren Smith — famed jazz pianist Paul Smith’s wife — and
is an audiophile fanatic. Stanley’s recordings have been released on high-end vinyl, SACD
stereo and reel-to-reel tape.
(Incidentally, Stanley dedicated this album to Paul Smith.)
(Incidentally, Stanley dedicated this album to Paul Smith.)
Interlude has a lot going
for it, starting with 14 classics from the Great American Songbook, with
excellent arrangements by some of the music world’s best. Additionally, the two
bands supporting Stanley include some truly great artists: among others, pianist
Bill Cunliffe, bassist Chuck Berghofer, trombonist Bob McChesney and guitarist
John Chiodini.
Stanley’s
voice is flawless: Her tone, range, enunciation, warmth
and phrasing are superb, and she “sells” a song as well as anyone alive today. No
surprise, she’s quite popular. Her albums sell in the tens of thousands globally,
which — considering the relatively limited “buying audience” that exists for jazz
today — is exceptional.
So,
why the caveat regarding her style? Well, Stanley doesn’t swing like artists such
as Anita O’Day, Kim Nazarian, Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holliday. Stanley is
more like Sarah Vaughn, although she could swing like crazy, when it suited
her. (Remember her cover of “Cherokee”?)
Still,
anyone who collaborates with the range of arrangers, producers and musicians assembled
for this album — and her earlier releases — surely has a passport to the jazz
genre, as far as I’m concerned. Call it what you will, this much is certain:
Stanley is in a class by herself.
Thanks Ric for this wonderful review! I am glad someone finally recognizes Jazz is a uniquely open creative genre, not meant to be pigeon-holed into specific criteria to describe it. I am the new face of jazz, the one that's selling globally and it is rooted in the greats of the past plus the dance history of jazz and encircled with today's jazz musician ideas and expressions. Like classical music, from Mozart and Bach to DeBussy and Wagner, today's "true jazz" has various colors and complexities that make it difficult to fit anywhere except in this versatile genre. I appreciate the audition and commentary on my work. More to come..I have a ballads album with a special tribute to Stanley Turrentine forthcoming and a big band project in the foreseeable future. Thank you again. Lyn Stanley www.lynstanley.com
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