A Jazz diva with company: Stacey Kent at Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

Stacey Kent's name already sounds familiar for Hungarian audiences. This time the vivid performer has shared the spotlight with her husband, Jim Tomlinson (right). (photo by Dávid Merényi)]

What is a jazz diva like? Contrary to common beliefs, she is not a femme fatale and has nothing to do with an ageless bar singer in her seventies either. A jazz diva is the first to arrive on the stage and the last to leave it; a real pro whose spontaneous moves can surprise not only the audience but her musicians as well; amazing yet friendly, ethereal yet casual. Because jazz is by no means a genre for the "elite audiences" -- about love and sadness, one cannot sing down from a high horse. A jazz diva is the one to introduce her musicians to the audience but she herself needs no introduction for divas are known by everyone. And last but not least a jazz diva is the one to select with a perfect taste. For what is merely a changing fad in pop culture, is a valuable merit in jazz: to chose well from the musical lore.

Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand and Diana Krall are the ones to be usually referred to as jazz divas, and most recently Stacey Kent too. The American born singer is a goddess-like yet deeply human phenomenom. She is a performer to be loved -- it comes through from her every move that she loves music and loves her audience that in turn adore their singer.

They adore her even if she confesses that she can't speak a word of Hungarian but she has a favourite song from France, "Le Jardin d'Hiver", which she translates into English for us to understand: "Winter Garden". The audience welcomes the anouncement with such enthusiasm as if she tried to sing their favourite folk song in broken Hungarian.

It is a pity that the name of this world-famous jazz singer has hardly been known in Hungary so far. Stacey Kent was born in New York and studied to be a literary scholar but in the end she ended up as a cosmopolitan jazz singer living in England most of the time. I suspect, however, that her prior studies has not much to do with the quality praised by so many of her music critics: her crystal clear pronounciation. (It is a rare experience to hear classic jazz pieces sung with such clearness that even poor speakers of English can understand them with ease.) Stacey Kent has met her husband and regular performing partner, Jim Tomlinson tenor saxophonist in England. It was It was him who persuaded her to pursue a career as profesionnal singer.

All that I wrote about jazz divas are certainly true for Stacey Kent who, for Hungarian audiences, debuted on Thursday at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall. She selects with an excellent taste. Instead of their own original compositions, she and her band rather performs the great classics of jazz from Cole Porter and Gershwin to Paul Simon and Duke Ellington. She approaches this classic lore with due respect yet in a way that is unmistakenly unique: she plays with the lyrics, the tune and even with her microphone; yet her every move and gesture have a clear place and importance, which is also true for the brief periods of silence in her sometimes staccato performance. During these silent intermezzos the only noise to be heard in the hall is the quietly resonating sound of the air conditioner...

Kent treats her partner musicians with the same respect that she shows to her great predecessors of jazz. At her Budapest concert, apart from several classic pieces, she mainly sang from her new record (The Boy Next Door) and from her husband's third album (The Lyric). For Jim Tomlinson is mostly known as Kent's accompanying musician, although he is an outstanding musician himself. The diva seemingly gave the critics "the finger" in her own subtle way when unexpectedly anounced her favourite solo tune from her husband, the tune that Tomlin had played to her every night for months. Now we could also hear it, and while her husband was playing Kent moved out of the spotlight to the edge of the stage.

That is how divas are. -- Roland Borsos

Over at Birdland Stacey Kent greeted holiday visitors with tunes from her impressive new CD on Blue Note. Breakfast On The Morning Tram is a collection of pop covers (”So Many Stars”, “What A Wonderful World”) French love songs (”Ces Petits Riens”, “La Saison Des Pluies”) and originals from her husband/saxophonist Jim Tomlinson and author Kazuo Ishiguro (”I Wish I Could go Travelling Again”, “The Ice Hotel” and the title tune). These latter compositions are particularly delightful and help to establish the CD as a breakout of sorts for the New York-born, London-based chanteuse. With the expanded repertoire of this outing Kent will, I’m sure, gain appeal with cabaret, folk and funk audiences as well as jazzers.

On the new tour Kent and Tomlinson revamped their group bringing aboard pianist Graham Harvey, bassist Dave Chamberlain, drummer Matt Skelton and guitarist John Parricelli. These musicians contributed to a cohesion and conceptuality that held the Birdland audience spellbound. Kent’s successful understated imprimatur gains new impetus with these players (particularly Harvey) and, if anything, her tranquil deliberations acquire new dimensions. For those who can’t make it to the live performances Breakfast On The Morning Tram will provided substantial listening pleasure on your new holiday iPods.

-- Nick Catalano