Get Happy - Clare Teal Album Review
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Album Review
Yorkshire lass Clare Teal gets happy with a covers album, bar two, on her eighth album.
Teal’s creative juices have been abandoned for a dip into the past, with songs ranging from 1920, the 30s, 1940, the 60s and 1970.
The new First Lady of Jazz’s silky smooth vocals are very adaptable, from the swing numbers to the ballads, switching with consummate ease.
By definition, this is essentially an exercise in interpretation as we only get two self-penned songs, which are excellent and sit neatly amongst the classics from way beyond, as they seamlessly blend together. Teal’s knack is to handle the original material with great respect and sensitivity capturing the essence of the writers’ intentions, though a couple don’t pop my cork.
Her Latino-inflected All For One has a Buena Vista Social Club mood, conjuring styles of Cuban ‘Son’.
Love Hurts, popularised by Jim Capaldi, is more secular than Jazz, which a bit disappointing, whereas Love For Sale (Ella Fitzgerald / Simply Red) is absolutely sublime capturing the true sensuality of the original by Cole Porter. Thankfully Van Morrison’s classic Moondance has kept its format and vibrancy with Teal on typical form. The oldest song here, Irvin Berlin’s standard Cheek To Cheek, is renditioned with all the gutsy thrust that Berlin intended, texturised by some thumping upright bass and dazzling drums. Doing a ballad version of Neil Sedaka’s smash hit Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is a brave move. This doesn’t work because it sounds too much like Crystal Gayle’s Don’t It Turn Your Brown Eyes Blue. She does come up trumps however on co-written Get On It Sam, one of the best songs ever by Teal, and Amanda Field.
Even though most of the songs are by other people, this is still very much a Clare Teal album, bringing her trademark warmth and sincerity across the collection.
File under: Classy
Gigs
- Fri 11th Jul 2008
