Kristen Cornwell Quintet - Spiral

There are jazz singers, and then there are musicians who play the voice. Think of Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Bobby McFerrin. In Australia think of Kristen Cornwell - although not for much longer, as this was the gifted singer's last Sydney performance before moving to Belgium. She used it to launch a new CD, Spiral, only her second after a decade of maintaining a saxophone/guitar/bass/drums band with minimal changes to the line-up.

This homogeneity in collaborators reflects not just their loyalty, but a unified vision, a band sound. Cornwell even lists herself alphabetically amid her band members on both albums. Such a vision allowed Fats Waller's Jitterbug Waltz to be something other than just a singer essaying a beautifully written, much-loved standard. In performing it wordlessly with such vivacity, and then in improvising with an intensity that never lost that vivacity, Cornwell made Jitterbug as much her own as any of her originals.

Her accuracy of pitch was nothing short of sensational when scatting; leaping effortlessly across intervals that would suck a lesser singer into a chasm of embarrassment. Nor does her voice have any harsh or ugly transitions or registers, and she controlled dynamic shifts organically, without radical, intrusive manoeuvres with the microphone.

Homer tells us that Calypso the Nymph was "singing in a beautiful voice" when Hermes finds her in The Odyssey, and Cornwell has reinvented Susan Vega's Calypso - telling of Odysseus's visit from the solitary Nymph's perspective - with a siren-like wordless introduction. The rhythmic sensuousness woven by bassist Brendan Clarke and drummer Fabian Hevia cushioned a glorious tenor saxophone solo from Sandy Evans, while the guitar of newcomer Ben Hauptmann sounded uncannily like a steel drum behind Cornwell's tender farewell.

Voice and soprano saxophone entwined to soaring effect on the leader's fervent love song, Distant Skies, while her Isobel (written with David Theak) furthered the delightful legacy of songs inspired by children, catching both their innocence and effervescence. Clarke, one of our most propulsive bassists, plunged What a Little Moonlight Can Do (from Cornwell's previous Sea Journey CD) into motion for a swinging treatment from the singer.

A VOICE PLAYED OUT WITH BEAUTIFUL EASE TO TEASE OUT LOVE’S REFRAIN – John Shand  Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 25th 2004

Brendan Clarke - bass
Kristen Cornwell - vocals
Sandy Evans - tenor &soprano sax
Fabian Hevia - drums & percussion
Jeremy Sawkins - guitars