by Rick MacMillan

 

“This light but charming program is an introduction, for those who don’t already know this aspect of the lady, to Jean Stilwell’s way with a cabaret tune.

While maintaining her chops and engagements in the opera and concert world, she has taken a detour to the other side of the tracks.

She appears to be entirely comfortable in that neighbourhood - in music that is by turns evocative, cozy, intimate, mellow, wistful and sultry.

The first eight tracks are by three young but successful songwriters hailing from New York City: John Bucchino and the team of Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich.

Among the standouts are the five songs by Bucchino.

“This Moment” and “Temporary,” in particular, are in the show-tune tradition, and Stilwell’s approach suggests a lone singer perched on a stool in an intimate cafe.

The Heisler/Goldrich songs, all relating life experiences from a woman’s point of view, include the kooky “Taylor the Latte Boy,” the tender “How I Love You” and the frustrated “Apathetic Man.

More familiar items include the bluesy “I Had Myself a True Love” (by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer; it’s one of the more sophisticated tunes and calls for a fairly extended vocal range); “Last Night When We Were Young” (marked by some very clever lyrics by Yp Harbourg); Hollaender’s “Falling in Love Again” (made famous by Marlene Dietrich); Kurt Weill’s “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” and a Stilwell signature number, the “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen, which she sings exquisitely. 

The recording, made in Loach Engineering Studio in Toronto, the home of Loach and her recording-engineer husband John loach, is warm and engaging, with Stilwell enunciating the lyrics clearly at every turn (they are not printed in the accompanying artwork) and Loach’s Steinway B reproduced in a natural and rich acoustic.

A follow-up recording is in the works. Watch for it.

Rick MacMillan