Elly Roberts reviews

Clare Teal:
Don't Talk

Distributed by
Sony Jazz (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment)

Released: October 2004

Rating: 10/10

Cat. No: 5186702

Track listing:

1. Messin’ With Fire
2. When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)
3. Stoned Soul Picnic
4. Everything Is You
5. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
6. You Bring The Best Out In Me
7. The Music Goes Round And Round
8. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
9. Mood Indigo
10. Falling For You
11. In A Mellow Tone
12. So In Love
13. I Just Want To Make Love To You

Clare Teal is the real deal.

As many young pretenders mess about purporting to be Jazz singers, Clare Teal shows them the door. She can never be called pretentious – as she plays right into the hands of the purists. Much has been said about the genre, with several cross – over artists using the tag for their benefit. That criticism can never be levelled at thirty year old Teal.

Finally she strikes gold with her fourth offering Don’t Talk, becoming the darling of the airwaves with BBC Radio 2’s adult orientated audience. For commercial reasons, she’s been labelled alongside Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones and Diana Krall – but she’s streets ahead of them in every department.

From the opening drum beats of a rip – roaring Messin’ With Fire, a out and out swinger, you immediately get a feeling she’s rubber stamped her intentions. Mixing standards like Willie Dixon’s classic Just Want To Make Love To You, Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo with self-penned songs like Falling For You, she proves she’s got the pedigree to stay the course, so much so, Sony have recently beaten off the competition and offered a multi-million pound recording deal – and she’s worth every penny.

The voice is highly disciplined, stylish, silky smooth and sensual when required – listen to Cole Porter’s So In Love and feel the emotions ooze out. Giving a backward nod to traditional Jazz and looking forward is the winning combination.

Favourite tracks – the delightfully jaunty When In Rome, and Everything Is You, both of which have a retro-60’s feel. You Bring The Best Out In Me is the highlight of this exquisite 49-minute experience.

What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life, a superb love ballad, would be a great single. Best Jazz album in years.

And check out Clare Teal.co.uk

Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008. For prints of any of Elly's concert pics online, email Elly or call 07765 862017.

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

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