La Princesse Et Les Croque-Notes

MÉLANIE DAHAN: La Princesse et les Croque-Notes
Sunnyside, 2009

JAZZ VOCALS – French singer makes her international debut. She has a classic, restrained alto and a sweet, gimmick-free delivery that lends instant charm to the solid, serious-sounding performances of the trio. I wish more jazz singers’ CDs sounded like this. All songs in French.

* * * * | All good! Fo’s Picks: 2, 4, 5, 6, 8

1. 4:57 – relaxed swing, vocal and piano dance carefully around each other
2. 4:26 – loping rhythm, cool drums, falls into a wonderful weightless chorus
3. 6:50 – light and airy: storytelling vocals, elegant “uptown” piano
4. 6:11 – touching ballad: lovely, aching vocal; takes flight near the end
5. 4:55 – flowing, surging tune with sax and some surprisingly pretty scatting
6. 1:43 – vocal/piano duet: a small, sparkling gem… very sweet
7. 4:08 – upbeat, sweeping, jazzy-catchy with an untethered chorus
8. 6:29 – melancholy ballad, the kind you can just fall into… ending flies away
9. 5:16 – light, floating tune with active sax; little gusts blow it this way and that
10. 3:40 – impressionistic: trio evokes the sea as Dahan narrates
11. 0:59 – cute vocal/piano duet, a little ragtime morsel
12. 5:22 – ballad: stark intro, gradually rises to grandness, falls back

[ Fo ] 07/19/09