Stacey Kent © Andrea Canter

“Her singular voice glides along a spectrum that runs from brittle and piercing (think of a jazzy Sandy Duncan) to a delicate whisper that trails into a light, flirtatious vibrato (Blossom Dearie)…Her stripped-down interpretations of standards reveal the lyrics with an unblinking clarity.”—Stephen Holden, New York Times

Finally garnering the attention in the U.S. that has followed her career in Europe, Stacy Kent “has a voice that a less musically savvy performer might use as a building block for creating a cute, smiley persona, but…carries it in more sophisticated directions” (Stephen Holden, New York Times). With her band and husband Jim Tomlinson on sax, Kent will bring her magical voice to Blues Alley in Washington, DC this week, December 14-16.

Stacey Kent’s rise to the top of the heap of jazz vocalists was anything but a straight trajectory. Visiting Europe to study French, Italian and German for a Masters degree in comparative literature, the Sarah Lawrence graduate happened to meet young saxophonist and student, Jim Tomlinson, at Oxford. Soon academic pursuits took a backseat to music, and Kent enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music.

Kent and Jim Tomlinson © Andrea Canter

Stacey Kent has released a spate of best-selling albums and has won a number of awards, including the 2001 British Jazz Award, 2002 BBC Jazz Award for “Best Vocalist,” and the 2004 Backstage Bistro Award. Jim Tomlinson’s 2006 release, The Lyric Featuring Stacye Kent, was named Best Album of the Year by the BBC Jazz Awards, while her 2003 release, The Boy Next Door, recently earned a Gold Disc in France. Her fan base has grown rapidly and she now sells out concert venues around the world, is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 3, and presenter of Jazz Line Up. Wrote three-time Oscar-winning songwriter, Jay Livingston, "Stacey Kent is a revelation. There is nobody singing today who can compare with her. She has the style of the greats, like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. And she sings the words like Nat Cole -- clean, clear, and almost conversational with perfect phrasing. And that's as good as it gets."

Stacey Kent performs at Blues Alley in Washington, DC (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW), on December 14-16 ( www.bluesalley.com). She will tour extensively in Europe this spring—keep up with her schedule at www.staceykent.com

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