Stacey Kent – The Boy Next Door (180g 2LP)

Label: Pure Pleasure / Candid CJS9993 – 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl – AAA 100% Analogue
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London
Limited Edition – Pressed at Pallas Germany
This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Ms Kent’s album, “The Boy Next Door”, is a heartfelt and reverent tribute to her musical heroes, which include legendary crooners Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, octogenarian jazz master Dave Brubeck and Manhattan cabaret doyen Bobby Short. The stylish jazz chanteuse’s repertoire also finds her working outside the Great American Songbook for the first time, with contributions from latter-day pop songwriters Burt Bacharach, Paul Simon and Carole King. Ms Kent puts her own indelible stamp on each number as she weaves her magic on a delectable collection of pop-jazz standards that encompass infatuation, seduction, love, loss and reminiscence.
Ms Kent receives impeccable support from her sleek, urbane jazz quintet, whose rhythmic fluency is further enhanced by the tasteful, literate arrangements. Newton and Tomlinson, both accomplished musicians in their own right, also display hitherto unknown musical talents as they join Curtis Schwartz to provide tongue-in-cheek backing vocals for Ms Kent’s deliciously bouncy rendition of “Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee”.
This has to be Stacey Kent’s finest album yet. With no less than 16 fantastic interpretations of songs made famous by male icons during Stacey’s adolescence, this album features tracks ranging all the way from “The Best Is Yet To Come” (Tony Bennett), “The Boy Next Door” (Frank Sinatra) to Dizzy Gillespie’s “Ooh Shoobee Doo Bee” and James Taylor’s “You’ve Got A Friend.” This is a must-have for any lover of the American popular songbook.