Dearest Duke

Jazz vocalist Carol Sloane covers ballads on Dearest Duke, generating a mellow love letter to one of America's greatest jazz composers, Duke Ellington. She's joined in her effort by clarinetist Ken Peplowski and pianist Brad Hatfield for a spare, intimate set that allows Sloane's voice to stand front and center. There is a hazard to stringing a dozen ballads together, mostly that an album will fall into a familiar pattern. Listening to a dozen Ellington songs performed by a sympathetic interpreter, however, builds thematic unity, creating an album well suited for late-night and lazy afternoon moods. And how can one fail with songs like "Mood Indigo," "In a Sentimental Mood," and "Sophisticated Lady"? The overall proceedings are only interrupted by slight variations in approach, as when Peplowski and Hatfield perform the instrumental "Serenade to Sweden" and Peplowski adds his vocals to "Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)." Sloane's approach may seem a bit old-fashioned by those who have become accustomed to the more polished sounds and production of Diana Krall and the current crop of torch singers, but what of it? There's something to be said for bringing all musical elements to bear on the singer and the song, and this approach works just fine on Dearest Duke. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi