Tender Trap

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
The follow-up to their highly successful debut release. The Fairmount Girls deliver 11 tasty pop cocktails that are sure to please.

Tracks:

The Tender Trap
I Didn't Know About You
Comes Love
In The Still Of The Night
Fools Rush In
East Of The Sun
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart
They Say It's Wonderful
Don't Be That Way
They All Laughed
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
It's A Wonderful World

Amazon.com

Stacy Kent has a voice like the great Dinah Washington's, immediate in its grab of the ear and incisive in its tonal shape. Kent's middle range has a washing quality that pushes the edges forward, even as the edges lilt upward or warble excitedly. Kent and her British band--virtual unknowns prior to this debut--are sure to splash big, with their spare ballad approach (as on Duke Ellington and Bob Russell's "I Didn't Know About You") or their rumbling swing on George Gershwin's "They All Laughed." Pianist David Newton glides across melodies with a light touch but then launches sparkling solos full of funky harmonics--hear "The Tender Trap" for Kent and Newton's mix of charming voice and odd pianism. The band is creative enough to feel at ease reaching into great instrumental passages, giving Kent a first-class platform from which to cue up phrasing that nods to Ella Fitzgerald and a unique, fetching overall style all her own. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Details

It's Only her Second Album, but What an Impact She Has Had on the Jazz World. Ms. Kent's Natural Vocal Abilities Are in Full Force Once More on this Wonderful Collection. While the Songs Are Quite Familiar to Most, She Breathes New Life Into Each One with a Distinctive Voice, Superb Diction and Sublime Performance. If You're a Fan of How They Used to Make 'em, Guess What? They're Still Making Em Like They Used To...and Just as Good!

Customer Reviews:

Great Voice.......2007-02-27

I think Stacy has a wonderful voice. Glad I purchased this CD.

An affectionate voice........2005-04-23

Stacey Kent's voice is unique and distinguishable amongst her contemporaries because it is thin but strong, sexy but sincere and she makes you notice and remember it. "Love is a Tender Trap" illustrates all these wonderful traits. The first six tracts are justly sung with the complimentary backing from tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson and company to put you in the mood. The band knows exactly when to add a little bit of piano, a mute scratching of the drums and a bellow of the bass. You can hear this in "I Didn't Know About You." There are also some swing numbers like "Comes Love" and the title track. Either way, Kent's phrasing and interpretation is special and memorable. She is Eartha Kitt and then some.

A not-so-tender trap.......2004-12-25

Despite Amazon's listing showing "Audio CD January 28, 2003", this product was recorded in early 1998 when, in my opinion, Stacey Kent had developed minimal skills as a professional recording artist. I purchased it based on my delight with later CDs like Dreamsville and In Love Again. But I listened to it once and threw it away. The problems were a combination of immature phrasing, off-pitch notes at times, the wrong song choices for her talents and, probably, some poor audio mixing. I love Stacey's later and current work but this one's a bummer.

Just one of Stacey's list of 5-star releases.......2004-09-16

She knows the music, doesn't try to recreate it, but rather dignifies it with her pure clear tones and impeccable timing.

My personal favorite is "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning".

Second album from American-born British-based jazz star.......2004-05-09

Stacey is now getting long-overdue recognition in the land of her birth thanks to her 2004 album, The boy next door, but she has been a major name in British jazz circles for a few years now. This is one of the albums that show why. I am amazed to read reviews criticizing Stacey's voice but we are all entitled to our opinions. I think she has a wonderful voice. Any minor technical limitations are more than compensated for in other ways. She likes to put her own distinctive interpretations on each song, so she can adapt the song to suit her voice. Classic songs from the Great American Songbook are Stacey's speciality. This is a very competitive market but Stacey has proved well capable of taking on the competition.

On this album, you can hear Stacey's versions of such classics as the title track (Frank Sinatra), I didn't know about you (Duke Ellington), Comes love (Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest singing), In the still of the night (Tommy Dorsey), Fools rush in (Glenn Miller), East of the sun (Tom Coakley), Zing went the strings of my heart (Judy Garland), They say it's wonderful (Frank Sinatra), Don't be that way (Benny Goodman), They all laughed (Fred Astaire), In the wee small hours of the morning (Frank Sinatra) and It's a wonderful world (Charlie Barnet). If one or two of the original hit-makers seem unfamiliar, a look at the composer credits will reassure you. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, George and Ira Gershwin - they're all there.

Tracks:

6 Billion People
Talking Backwards
Inuit Beauty Queen
I Would Die For You
Applecore
Fahrenheit 451
Ampersand
(I Always Love You When Im) Leaving You
Dreaming of Dreaming
Dead and Gone

Product Description

Twenty years on from the NMEs legendary C86 cassette, with anniversary shows featuring key artists planned at Londons Institute of Contemporary Arts and a Bob Stanley-produced documentary in the works, Tender Traps new album is striking proof that some of the original protagonists of that movement are still making intelligent and engaging pop music. As lead singer of the seminal Talulah Gosh, the proto-riot grrrl Heavenly and the classy pop act Marine Research, Amelia Fletcher was the voice and face that launched a thousand fanzines, an iconic presence whose influence can be traced in bands as diverse as Le Tigre and Belle and Sebastian. Together with her cohort in the latter two of those bands, Rob Pursey (guitar), and Marine Research drummer John Stanley aka DJ Downfall (bass), Tender Trap formed in 2001, releasing one album to date, the coolly electronic Film Molecules. With the addition of the crisp drumming of The Magnetic Fields Claudia Gonson, 6 Billion People marks a move away from the pared-down approach of its predecessor towards a sound recalling the best of the band's previous incarnations. This is immediately evident on the big chorused title track, Rob Purseys sub-sonic backing vocals uncannily reminiscent of erstwhile collaborator Calvin Johnson, while recent single 'Talking Backwards' is a pop rush of shimmering guitars and mellifluous vocals and I Would Die For You marries a chugging rhythm to an ethereal melody. The short-but-spiky Applecore ups the sass quotient as Amelia demands answers from an indecisive lover to a series of oblique questions over a stop-start bassline, whereas the spacey-keyboard sounds of 'Fahrenheit 451', the heartfelt '(I Always Love You When I'm) Leaving You' and the haunting album closer 'Dead and Gone' lend the album variety and depth. 6 Billion People is Tender Traps most fully realised work to date, a collection of sumptuous tunes and bold arrangements that makes a claim to be one of the best pop albums of the year. Perfect for fans of The Concretes, The Magnetic Fields, Le Tigre, and C86 indiepop. In a nicer parallel universe, Amelia Fletcher is the most influential artist of her day. NME

Average customer rating:

An excellent CD
Not the best...
An ensemble diva who can solo
Outstanding
That Old Black Magic

Tender Trap
Janis Siegel
Manufacturer: Medici Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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I Wish You Love
Friday Night Special
Sketches of Broadway
At Home
Experiment in White

ASIN: B00000J7ZD
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Tracks:

That Old Black Magic
My Ship
(Love Is) The Tender Trap
Change Partners
I Just Want To Make Love To You
Too Darn Hot
How Deep Is The Ocean?
Dreamsville
The Touch Of Your Lips
You Bring Out The Lover In Me
How Long Has This Been Goin On?
Tulip Or Turnip
All Roads Lead Back To You/I Thought About You

Amazon.com

Manhattan Transfer's Janis Siegel swings both blues and ballads on this, her first album for Monarch. What the songs have in common is that they all dwell on the proposition of love, a universal theme that unites material by artists as disparate as Fred Astaire ("Change Partners") and Muddy Waters ("I Just Want to Make Love to You"). Siegel proves herself an adequate interpreter, despite sometimes falling into that tradition that mistakenly thinks Ethel Merman is as important as Billie Holiday. That is, sometimes the whole routine is a little stiff (especially Hank Crawford's alto solo on "The Tender Trap"). However, for the most part, Siegel has assembled a fairly good band here, featuring Crawford, Michael Brecker, Victor Lewis, and Fred Hersch (who plays nice understated piano on the album's opener, "That Old Black Magic," as well as "How Deep Is the Ocean" and a score of others). While Siegel is no Dinah Washington, she holds her own with most of the material, despite sometimes going off the deep end into swing revival fakery. But as she's been at it a long while, there's no need to doubt her authenticity. --Joe S. Harrington

Customer Reviews:

An excellent CD.......2005-07-15

Janis Siegel proves herself an excellent interpreter. Despite the tradition that mistakenly thinks Billie Holliday is more important than Ella Fitzgerald--held by many who may have learned all they know about jazz from Ken Burns--Siegel shows, as Fitzgerald did, that standards can be sung beautifully in a jazz style without resorting to whining, wailing, or recomposing the notes. Working with a terrific combo of musicians, she has produced a winning album.

Not the best..........2004-09-14

Manhattan Transfer, as a group, is an amazing jazz vocal ensemble. However, as this album proves, when one of them ventures into the "solo" realm, the results can be...well, boring. Janis Siegel certainly has the pipes to sing with the best of them, but this record simply leaves something to be desired. Siegel's backing musicians are of excellent quality (Fred Hersch on piano, the swinging Drew Gress on bass, just to name a few), but her voice just doesn't seem to fit some of these songs. Call her enthusiasm "fake," call it "forced," call it "nonexistent." Whatever the case, Siegel's voice seems downright apathetic in these songs. She doesn't blow the listener away, but she also doesn't bore him or her to sleep. She's simply there, making an okay record and nothing else. The best tracks are "Too Darn Hot" and "That Old Black Magic," but even these can't save an album this lackluster. Simply put, there are plenty of other albums by female jazz vocalists that should be sought out before anyone reaches for this one. Because of that, this album would be primarily of interest to Manhattan Transfer enthusiasts, and nobody else.

An ensemble diva who can solo.......2004-01-16

The redoubtable Janis Siegel, a key voice in the consensus greatest ensemble Manhattan Transfer, sounds like she's been knocking off solo efforts for years in this one. Her beautiful, rich voice sounds like she could have been trained for opera, if she had chosen to go there. Fans can be glad she didn't. The highlight of this one for me was "Too Darn Hot", with a great introductory trio of bongos, bass and Janis; but "Tulips or Turnips", a relatively obscure Duke Ellington tune, and the set-ending medley of "All Roads Lead Back To You" and "I Thought About You", are also terrific. The album is aided tremendously by the presence of Fred Hersch, one of the finest piano accompanists in the business. All in all, highly recommended.

Outstanding.......2003-12-18

This is a must for any Janis Siegel fan. Of her recent recordings, this one is the most complete and inspired. The arrangments are fresh and full of life while at the same time familiar. Janis' style really comes through on this cd.

That Old Black Magic.......2003-09-18

Janis Siegel has the range and style to manage almost any type of music, but when she blows sweet and low on a jazz cut there is something magical goin' on. On this underproduced CD Janis doen't get a chance to show her stuff. There's nothing wrong and if you haven't heard Janis when she wails then you won't be dissappointed, but if you've listened to At Home it will break your heart. The Tender Trap is a flashback to an earlier time when singers and sound never really came into contact. Buy this if you've been listening to Diana Krall or Karrin Allyson, you'll be amazed. If you have heard Ann Hampton Callaway, Stacey Kent or Janis Siegel it will be a little ordinary.

Average customer rating:

Great Voice
An affectionate voice.
A not-so-tender trap
Just one of Stacey's list of 5-star releases
Second album from American-born British-based jazz star

Love Is...The Tender Trap
Stacey Kent
Manufacturer: Chiaroscuro Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Traditional & Vocal Pop | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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The Boy Next Door
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Dreamsville

ASIN: B00000HX71
Release Date: 1999-01-12

Tracks:

The Tender Trap
I Didn't Know About You
Comes Love
In The Still Of The Night
Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)
East Of The Sun
Zing ! Went The Strings Of My Heart
They Say It's Wonderful
Don't Be That Way
They All Laughed
In The Wee Small Hourss Of The Mourning
It's A Wonderful World

Amazon.com

Album Details

Customer Reviews:

Great Voice.......2007-02-27

I think Stacy has a wonderful voice. Glad I purchased this CD.

An affectionate voice........2005-04-23

A not-so-tender trap.......2004-12-25

Just one of Stacey's list of 5-star releases.......2004-09-16

She knows the music, doesn't try to recreate it, but rather dignifies it with her pure clear tones and impeccable timing.

My personal favorite is "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning".

Second album from American-born British-based jazz star.......2004-05-09

Stacey is, as ever, backed by some of the finest jazz musicians in Britain (and she's married to one of them). Her music may have less crossover appeal than Diana Krall and Norah Jones but it's possible to enjoy the music of all three in their different ways.

Tender Trap
Average customer rating:
Tender Trap
Amanda Carr
Manufacturer: Original Music Svc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007VF1YM
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Tracks:

Never Will I Marry
(Love is) The Tender Trap
I'll Close My Eyes
Do It the Hard Way
What We Were Asking For
Tulip or Turnip
I'll Never Be the Same
That Old Devil Moon
Throw it Away
I Couldn't Live Without You
Foolin' Myself
What Am I Here For
No More Blues (Chega De Saudade)

Average customer rating:

The best band since Marine Research (maybe even better)

Film Molecules
Tender Trap
Manufacturer: K. Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
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6 Billion People

ASIN: B000068CXF
Release Date: 2002-07-16

Tracks:

Fin
Oh Katrina
You And Me
Face Of 73
That Girl
Talk In Song
Chemical Reaction
Son Of Dorian Gray
Emma
Dyspraxic
Love Is Red/Green
Brown Eyes
You Are Gone (So You Should Go)

Customer Reviews:

The best band since Marine Research (maybe even better).......2002-08-08

Surely this, not the Hives or the Strokes, ought to be the future of music. Sixties punk pastiche is OK ... but there can't be much future in it. And most British 'alternative' music these days seems to sound like warmed over Pink Floyd. The Tender Trap (or are they really just called Tender Trap?) draw on the past too, but less obvious bits of it and so go in a different direction, one that hasn't already been followed all the way to the end or done to death. This is indie guitar pop/punk, but the flavours are the lazy, literate femininity of the Marine Girls, the stroppy happiness of the Buzzcocks or Hagar the Womb, and the liquid sophistication of French film from the 1960s and 70s (if "liquid sophistication" means nothing to you, think great camera-work, almost no plot, romance/sex as the central theme).

Tracks:

Drivin' By
Skincare Secrets
Something Bad's Gonna Happen
Life With A View
Helicopter
She Got Vertigo(So Deal Me In)
Worse Days Than This
Years Later
Kissing the Sun
Waive the Waiver
Elbow Scrapes

Album Description

The follow-up to their highly successful debut release. The Fairmount Girls deliver 11 tasty pop cocktails that are sure to please.

Customer Reviews:

When Starbucks invades Fairmount . . ........2001-09-07

I'm going to get a mohawk and carry my Mossberg 500 (unloaded, but who will know?) right inside. When they ask for my order, I'll pull that cold black steel out of my trenchcoat and say, "Go away, and don't come back until the topless car wash reopens." That'll learn 'em.

Real solid album. Ice on prickly heat. A really sweaty day in a borrowed wedding dress. Korbel and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. You know the feeling. The one where you step off the suffocating city bus and find a cool breeze in the Sycamore trees. Sounds like that pale yellow in the black clouds before a terrific thunderstorm.