Wrapping her sweet voice around songs by male singers she admires, Stacey Kent delivers another pleasant and low-key album with The Boy Next Door.
Kent's tribute choices range from traditional pop (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett) to mainstream jazz instrumentalists (Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie) to the softer side of rock (James Taylor, Simon and -- unmentioned in the liner notes -- Garfunkel).
With a gentle conviction akin to early Blossom Dearie without the cheeky flair, the album makes for breezy listening.
The 16 tracks don't differ enough in tone, making the album a bit too long, but individual moments of warm openhearted excellence make it worthwhile.
The sentimentality of "Bookends" or "'Tis Autumn" suit her precious delivery well, while the sly moments of "Makin' Whoopee" feel out of the singer's reach.
The bandmembers stay out of the way for the most part, waiting for their solos rather than interacting much with Kent.
Drummer Matt Home's light but lively style is especially accommodating and guitarist Colin Oxley's percussive take on "Too Darn Hot" ends up being the album's greatest moment.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Best Is Yet to ComeCy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 2 | The Boy Next DoorRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | The Trolley SongRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Say It Isn't SoIrving Berlin | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Too Darn HotCole Porter | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 6 | Makin' WhoopeeWalter Donaldson | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | What the World Needs Now Is LoveBurt Bacharach, Hal David | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 17 MB |
| 8 | You've Got a FriendCarole King | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:21 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 9 | I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 23 MB |
| 10 | Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-BeeJoe Carroll, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Graham | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 11 | People Will Say We're in LoveRichard Rodgers | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 12 | 'Tis AutumnHenry Nemo | Stacey Kent | Play | 04:32 | 10 MB | 22 MB |
| 13 | All I Do Is Dream of YouNacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 14 | I Get Along Without You Very WellHoagy Carmichael | Stacey Kent | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 14 MB |
| 15 | You're the TopCole Porter | Stacey Kent | Play | 02:31 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 16 | BookendsPaul Simon | Stacey Kent | Play | 01:16 | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| 58 mins | 134 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 301 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burt Bacharach | Composer |
| 2 | Alan Bates | Executive Producer |
| 3 | Irving Berlin | Composer |
| 4 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 5 | Ginny Bogadi | Make-Up |
| 6 | Jacqueline Brewer | Cover Design |
| 7 | Nacio Herb Brown | Composer |
| 8 | Hoagy Carmichael | Composer |
| 9 | Joe Carroll | Composer |
| 10 | Dave Chamberlain | Double Bass |
| 11 | Cy Coleman | Composer |
| 12 | Hal David | Composer |
| 13 | Walter Donaldson | Composer |
| 14 | Duke Ellington | Composer |
| 15 | Arthur Freed | Composer |
| 16 | Dizzy Gillespie | Composer |
| 17 | Bill Graham | Composer |
| 18 | Matt Home | Drums |
| 19 | Stacey Kent | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 20 | Carole King | Composer |
| 21 | Kim Knott | Cover Photo |
| 22 | Carolyn Leigh | Composer |
| 23 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 24 | Henry Nemo | Composer |
| 25 | David Newton | Keyboards, Piano, Vocals (Background) |
| 26 | Colin Oxley | Guitar |
| 27 | Cole Porter | Composer |
| 28 | Richard Rodgers | Composer |
| 29 | Curtis Schwartz | Engineer, Mixing, Vocals (Background) |
| 30 | Paul Simon | Composer |
| 31 | Jim Tomlinson | Guest Artist, Producer, Saxophone, Vocals (Background) |
| 32 | Paul Francis Webster | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |