Jane Monheit - Come Dream With Me

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Music reviews of Come Dream With Me

Music Review: Magical
Rating: 5 Stars

For me, the most endearing feature of this young woman's voice is its effortless perfection. Jane never seems to strain anything. Every note, every bend, every glissando is absolutely clear and pure and right. Every word is understandable. No matter how it's sung, on a single note or a dozen, every one is clear and distinct (witness: "Waters of March"). There is no slurring here. Even what you'd call "scat" with others, seems misnamed with Jane. Those sounds, too, seem to be words in a fully realized musical vocabulary.

As befits the title, this is a dreamy set of songs. They're mostly slower tempo ballads. That's not to say the songs are alike. Jane's deft phrasing and nuanced delivery make each chorus in the same song different, let alone from song to song. This is a totally wonderful package. Even the cover and the liner note booklet are gorgeous! The trouble reviewing it is not finding high lights, but deciding what to leave out.

Despite that, there are, perhaps, some higher lights. One test of greatness in a singer might be whether their version of a song becomes the immediate standard - the one you think of whenever you hear that song done by anybody else. Listen here to Jane do "Over the Rainbow" and see if that doesn't happen for you. Similar, are her efforts on "Blame It on My Youth" and the Joni Mitchell song, "A Case of You". She also redefines "I'm Through with Love", a tough task, since my previous standard was Diana Krall's on All For You. Jane's version, though, is very different from DK's. It swings and is sung with a kind of saucy insouciance that opens whole new vistas of meaning. The two versions exist in separate space. Now there are two standards.

As with Never Never Land, the supporting cast here is superb. Kenny Baron (incomparable) on piano, Christian McBride (irrepressible) on bass, and Greg Hutchinson (impeccable) on drums. All stars in their own right, this trio throughout works with Jane as a single unit. Balance and interplay are seamless and strong. (A tip of the hat to producer Dorn.) "Guest" appearances are by Michael Brecker, Tom Harrell, and Richard Bona on sax, trumpet, and guitar/fretless bass, respectively. Harrell's solo on "Over the Rainbow" adds just the right amount of breathy wistfulness to the song. The combination of Jane singing high soft melody behind Brecker's funky solo on "I'll be Seeing You" is positively otherworldly and Bona is indispensable to the impact of "A Case of You".

I know I'm gushing; but if this disc isn't perfect, I lack the musical acuteness to tell you how. Even Jane's little girl chorus of "Over the Rainbow" that ends the disc is charming. This is special, folks. If more stars were available, it would have them all. I can't recommend it highly enough. Absolutely magical!

Description of Come Dream With Me

A DualDisc is a two-sided disc made up of a CD on one side and a DVD on the other, DualDisc?s breakthrough technology allows one disc to have it all. A full album on the CD side. All sorts of special material on the DVD side, including the full album in a 5.1 Surround Sound, exclusive video content and lyrics. DualDisc work wherever you play CD?s and DVD?s, including car stereos, PC?s DVD Players, game consoles and CD players.

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• Jazz
• Pop