“Jean Stilwell has been re-inventing herself the last few years, from that of a classical singer to someone at home in the world of musical theatre, cabaret and jazz.
The transformation has been gradual - at a concert a few short years ago, I recall thinking how wonderful her Kurt Weill was, amidst a program of classical pieces. Part of her artistic evolution involved a remarkable physical transformation - her newly edgy and 'punk' look is a far cry from opera divadom. The album cover of Carmen Unzipped is telling - it shows her mid torso, with arms crossed and multi-coloured tattoos in full display.
The fifteen songs on the disc showcase her current strengths, combining idiomatic vocalism, musical intelligence, well-honed dramatic instinct, great attention to textual meaning and an emotional honesty that comes across the footlight. The songs are of a bittersweet variety - some humorous, others wistful and sad, always delivered with Stilwell's unique personal stamp. Particularly enjoyable are "Taylor the Latte Boy", "Apathetic Man", and "I Was Telling Him About You". Also noteworthy is "Falling in Love Again" - Marlene Dietrich's theme song, here given the full diva treatment, and well supported by Patti Loach (piano), David Bourque (clarinet) and John Loach (trumpet).
Patti Loach is a sympathetic partner on the piano. This will be a welcome release for the many admirers of the Canadian mezzo.” Joseph K. So, LaScena Musicale.
“Carmen UnZipped is an outstanding CD.” Paula Citron
“The Canadian mezzo-soprano Jean Stilwell has made a name for herself, with the role of Carmen. Her steamy, sultry and sexy portrayal of the tragic heroine of Bizet’s opera has wowed audiences around the world. But Jean is equally at home on the cabaret stage, with a wooden stool and a piano.
She’s recently written a new stage show with pianist Patti Loach called Carmen UnZipped. It’s a mix of her strengths – from musical theatre to cabaret songs, to opera and jazz standards. And tied in with the new stage show is her new CD, also called Carmen UnZipped.
Jean has a rich, burgundy-coloured mezzo-soprano that’s even and consistent through the range. If you’re a cabaret singer, you’ve got to be understood, so diction and clarity are always strong. And she’s famous for her ability to communicate and express through a variety of musical styles.
She and Patti Loach work well together, and I liked the mix of material here – from opera to jazz and Broadway, to those new songs by New Yorker John Bucchino. Four stars." Rick Phillips, CBC
"Canada's most beloved and sexiest 'Carmen' has just released an album that, while including the most famous aria from Bizet's opera (Habanera), focuses on non-operatic fare which nonetheless retains a sense of that character's unbridled 'liberte'.
For this album, following on the heels of sold-out 'UnZipped' cabaret performances for Tapestry New Opera Works at the Distillery District, the gypsy/mezzo Jean Stilwell and pianist and famous Beaches 'bluestocking' Patti Loach provide a travel map of adventure and misadventure in love, as well as a guidebook for tattoos picked up along the way.
There are whimsical and sensitive pieces by New York cabaret songwriter John Bucchino, as well as jazz, film and theatrical standards by Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill, Friedrich Hollaender and Maurice Charlap. Two selections in particular by the popular Manhattan song-writing team Heisler and Goldrich, Taylor the Latte Boy and Apathetic Man, are uproariously funny.
Lovingly recorded by Patti's husband John Loach, who also plays trumpet on Falling in Love Again, the homey atmosphere provides a warm but pristine sound quality that captures the extreme strength, vivacity and intelligence of these two gorgeous and talented women.
Time, indeed, for the world of opera to unzip its laced-up image." Dianne Wells, Wholenote Magazine
“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.” Rick MacMillan, Opera Canada
