Esther Bennett has gone back through the demo tapes she used to get gigs in and around London and all of which predate her 2004 debut album Just In Time (produced by jazz singer Ian Shaw, launched at the 606 club and critically well received). So rather than a “best of” album release Early Years could be seen as a prequel to a career that includes performing, recording and teaching.
The first seven tracks on this album feature Esther of vocals alongside guitaris Ramsay McInnes on a range of songs all delivered with a pared-back styling. I like the song choices, with a good mix of source material, and how they are interpreted. Dream A Little Dream has been covered by many an artist and whose version you are familiar with will, I guess, be dependent on when in your life you first came across it. The Mamas and The Papas covered it in 1968 and as good as that recording is I prefer Esther’s delivery. The interaction between her voice and McInnes’ guitar works very well as does Esther’s phrasing of the lyrics, which somehow feel (in my opinion) more authentic than Cass Elliot’s version.
I always think it is brave to take on a Billie Holiday number but I have to say that Bennett’s cover of Don’t Explain is very good with terrific use of space and changes in vocal cadence. Another big hitter vocally is Aretha Franklin with Stevie Wonder’s Until You Come Back To Me and Esther handles this number with ease and a good use of vocal range. At Seventeen (Janis Ian, 1975) is close to the original in style but I think Esther captures the portrayal of adolescent cruelty and rejection with a more honest feel than the softer toned original.
Tracks eight through ten are sung to the accompaniment of John China at the piano, which, for me, changes the feel of the delivery. You Go To My Head has a late-night jazz club vibe about it; See-See Rider is a well-presented slow blues; whereas, Them There Eyes is an upbeat, jaunty number that takes the listener back to the early days of American Jazz. I should have liked to have heard more of this duo because I think it works well – easy to imagine this Upstairs at Ronnies.
There is only one track on The Early Years that features Esther in a group setting and it is a belter. Ramsay McInnes is back on guitar with excellent support from Jim Watson on piano and Mick Hutton and Mark Fletcher on double bass and drums respectively. Evil Gall Blues fizzes with energy and shows how at home Esther is singing an up-tempo blues number without losing any of the clear diction displayed on the slower numbers of this album.
I very much enjoyed The Early Years and in particular the pared-back delivery of the first seven numbers. There are good song choices here and I am so pleased that Esther did not rely on the old chestnuts of the Great American Songbook – you have no idea how many times I have heard A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square, for example. I was delighted that she got in Strollin’ by Prince, such a buoyant number delivered in such a carefree, uplifting way. Esther Bennett knows how to put a song across and this album highlights how she did it, with later albums showing how she still does it.
Tracklist: 01 – Dream A Little Dream; 02 – Don’t Explain; 03 – Until You Come Back To Me; 04 – Love Me Or Leave Me; 05 – At Seventeen; 06 – Strollin’; 07 – I Can’t Get Started; 08 – You Go To My Head; 09 – See-See Rider; 10 – Them There Eyes; 11 – Evil Gal Blues.
Musicians: Esther Bennett (vocals), Ramsay McInnes (guitar – tracks 1 – 7 & 11), John China (piano – tracks 8 – 10), Jim Watson (piano – track 11), Mick Hutton (double bass – track 11), Mark Fletcher (drums – track 11).
SimplyJazzTalk 