The entire project is both spare and impossibly lush. While this may sound like a contradiction, it has everything to do with the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and Jim Tomlinson, as well as Stacey's elegant and unadorned vocal approach. The opening track, Lucky To Be Me, works as an invitation to the theme of the album and uses the open space between vocal phrases to draw us in. And, while all of the tracks are worth an unadulterated listen, I'm going to list a few of my favorites, starting with La Javanaise, which is delivered with an almost offhanded musical precision and sung in Stacey's pitch-perfect French. The surprising warmth of Stacey's lower vocal range makes A Time For Love the intimate ballad it was meant to be. Jim's tenor sax does the same, so that his playing is the ideal complement to Stacey's voice. The entire album is a joy to listen to both musically and sonically. It was lovingly recorded and mixed by Jim (yet another of his talents) at their home studio in Virginia. - Cliff Goldmacher Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy® nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold, and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions. Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London, where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson. Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice led her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, Grammy®-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career. Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband, in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal, and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène. Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as-yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love, set to appear on April 3rd, 2026.
The entire project is both spare and impossibly lush. While this may sound like a contradiction, it has everything to do with the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and Jim Tomlinson, as well as Stacey's elegant and unadorned vocal approach. The opening track, Lucky To Be Me, works as an invitation to the theme of the album and uses the open space between vocal phrases to draw us in. And, while all of the tracks are worth an unadulterated listen, I'm going to list a few of my favorites, starting with La Javanaise, which is delivered with an almost offhanded musical precision and sung in Stacey's pitch-perfect French. The surprising warmth of Stacey's lower vocal range makes A Time For Love the intimate ballad it was meant to be. Jim's tenor sax does the same, so that his playing is the ideal complement to Stacey's voice. The entire album is a joy to listen to both musically and sonically. It was lovingly recorded and mixed by Jim (yet another of his talents) at their home studio in Virginia. - Cliff Goldmacher Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer in the mould of the greats, with a legion of fans, a host of honors and awards including a Grammy® nomination, album sales in excess of 2 million and more than one billion streams, and Platinum, Double-Gold, and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of chart-topping positions. Stacey, a comparative literature graduate with a passion for music, travelled to Europe to further her studies after receiving her degree from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Through a series of twists of fate, she found herself in London, where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson. Kent's musical journey began with childhood piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice led her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the one that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalogue of 13 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, Grammy®-nominated Breakfast On The Morning Tram (Blue Note/EMI 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Stacey has graced the stages of nearly 60 countries over the course of her career. Her worldwide fan base is testimony to her ability to express the emotional heart of her songs with delicately nuanced interpretations that transcend borders and defy categorization. Her unique multi-lingual repertoire includes standards, chanson, Bossa Nova, and originals written by Jim Tomlinson, her saxophonist/producer/composer/arranger husband, in collaboration with the Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, with whom they have worked since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal, and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated French string quartet, the Quatuor Ébène. Stacey's last studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, was released in November 2023 on Naïve Records. A collection of fans' requests from her as-yet unrecorded concert repertoire, Summer Me, Winter Me entered the French jazz charts at number 1 and has quickly established itself as a new highlight in her discography. She now returns with A Time For Love, set to appear on April 3rd, 2026.
