"With a Song in My Heart" reflects a period of maturation and reflection. It is a gentle and uncluttered smooth set of songs enhanced by the virtuoso playing of Guy Barker on trumpet. Produced by Gill Manly and Simon Wallace Gill Manly - vocals Simon Wallace - piano Mark Hodgson - double bass Ralph Salmins - drums Guy Barker - trumpet Mark Murphy - guest vocals Tracklisting: 1. Midnight Sun 2. Robbins’ Nest 3. With a Song in my Heart 4. A Night in Tunisia 5. Daydream 6. Taxi Driver / Love for Sale 7. Take Love Easy 8. September Song 9. Sittin’ and a Rockin’ 10. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most 11. Where or When 12. Lush Life 13. I Keep Going Back to Joe’s Total Running Time: 57 minutes Reviews: 09 June 2009 In Tune International Allen Pollock Coming my way without prior knowledge of the singer, there was much to admire when listening to With A Song In My Heart (Linn AKD 328), a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, featuring Gill Manly, a colourfully attired lady judging from the artwork, who apparently last released an album in 1996. If anyone has this album I would appreciate hearing more about it as judging from this superb collection, we may have missed a treat, for the mainly London-based Gill has a warmly evocative vocal style which really should have been fully appreciated over the intervening years. However, I'm sure she has been honing her vocal craft in a few smoky jazz cellars somewhere as well as seeking a pathway to personally enlightenment. No doubt, such experiences have gained her maturity of vision and a deeply felt emotional gravitas in order to interpret the song choices on this album. Besides, with the venerated Simon Wallace (piano), Mark Hodgson (double bass), Ralph Salmins (drums) and Guy Barker (trumpet) to light the way, she has the advantage of a musicians fan-base in which to preview her wares. Gill obviously has a weakness for Ellington with ‘Daydream', ‘Take Love Easy' and ‘Sittin' and a-rockin'' allowing her to stake her claim, leaving ‘Midnight Sun', ‘Spring Will Really Hang You Up The Most' and ‘September Song' to brightly shine. The title song and ‘Where or When' show her poignant way with choice Rodgers and Hart ballads whilst jazzy ‘Love For Sale' is briefly prefaced by Bernard Hermann's moody ‘Taxi Driver' movie theme as the ideal showcase for Guy Barker's magnificent playing. In any case, anyone who can vocally nail ‘Lush Life' and also enlist the enriching vocal service of the great Mark Murphy to share ‘I Keep Going Back To Joe's' gets my support with my sincere hope Linn Records will hold on to Gill for more albums of this quality. 09 April 2009 Atlanta Audio Society Phil Muse For the benefit of us Yanks, this British vocalist's given name is pronounced "Jill" as in Jillian, not "Gil" as in Gilbert. For the singer is definitely a lady, and in fact her seamless vocal artistry, ranging from a breathless girlish whisper to a boldly swinging full voice, will inevitably remind listeners on this side of the pond of none other than Ella Fitzgerald, on whose work Manly offers her own reflections. It's no coincidence the album is populated with jazz standards like Midnight Sun, Daydream, Night in Tunisia, Taxi Driver/Love for Sale, Take Love Easy, and Lush Life that have long been associated with Ella. Manly's interpretations have a dual appeal in that they pay eloquent tribute to the great American singer in a personal, fresh, and highly accessible style that is uniquely her own. In songs like Lush Life, Where or When, and Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most, Gill combines nuanced interpretations with the absolute vocal clarity they require. In the latter, the personal intensity and the sensational lilt she gives the refrain really makes its memorable. She doesn't take as familiar a standard as September Song for granted, either, bringing out the pain in the lyric beginning "It's a long, long time / from May to December" in a subtly understated way that makes it all the more poignant. Her take on the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn favorite Sittin' and a-Rockin' manages to be be almost more pure fun than the law should allow and faintly melancholy at the same time. And for me, she has done the seemingly impossible task of disassociating the album's thrice-familiar title song With a Song in My Heart from all Helen Morgan connotations. Here she uses the warmth of her jazz artistry to bring out the intimacy in the passage "When the music swells, I'm touching your hand. It tells me that you're standing near, and...." which occurs as a quiet reverie before returning to the melody in the next stanza and taking it big. Simple, yes, but you have to have the instinct for it. Credit the support Gill Manly receives from the superb trio of Simon Wallace, piano; Mark Hodgson, double bass; and Ralph Salmins, drums. They show us all the unobtrusive ways a group can highlight a great singer. Longtime associate Mark Murphy adds his presence to a memorable duet with Gill in the concluding number I Keep Going Back to Joe's, which rounds off the program very nicely. And Guy Barker, a name we've often had occasion to cite in reviews of British jazz, takes a sensational melismatic riff in Night in Tunisia to compliment Gill's scintillating scats. Look for him adding his distinguished timbres to Manly's vocal artistry in Midnight Sun, Robbins' Nest and elsewhere throughout the program. In fact, there isn't a clinker in any of the 13 tracks on this album: all are winners, slow ballads as well as swinging numbers. How often does that happen? With a Song in My Heart is apparently Gill's first album since 1996 and marks a comeback for the singer, who had been in retirement since the end of the 90's (Considering the history of the world since then, it was a good time to "take five.") If it takes this artist 13 years to get it as absolutely right as she does with this album, let's hope we're all around in 2022! 26 February 2009 Jazzwise Peter Quinn London-based jazz singer Gill Manly releases a well-received debut Detour Ahead way back in 1994 and then, for personal and professional reasons, completely dropped of the radar. And that, so it seemed, was that. Conceived as a personal reflection on the work of Ella Fitzgerald, With a Song in My Heart marks a stunning return to the recording studio. Coaxed out of retirement in 2007, and now signed to Linn Records, Manly's interpretations glow with a sense of rediscovery. In contrast to the empty mannerisms of some jazz chanteuses, it's a joy to hear classics such as ‘With A Song In My Heart', ‘A Night in Tunisia' and ‘Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most' sung with such intelligence and self-possession. As her take on ‘Lush Life' demonstrates, Manly is a singer who exquisitely balances clarity of line and emotional nuance, all wrapped up in her characteristically lustrous timbre. A terrific duet with her friend and mentor Mark Murphy, ‘I Keep Going Back To Joe's', fittingly brings the collection to a close. |
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