Ballads (Liane Carroll album)
| Ballads | ||||
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| Studio album by Liane Carroll | ||||
| Released | 15 April 2013 (UK) | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Quietmoney Recordings, distributed by Proper Records, CD (QMR0002CD) | |||
| Producer | James McMillan | |||
| Liane Carroll chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Observer |   |
| The Guardian | |
| London Evening Standard | |
| LondonJazz | |
Ballads is a studio album by English jazz pianist/vocalist Liane Carroll. It was released in April 2013 by Quietmoney Recordings and distributed by Proper Records.
The album was recorded in Hastings, Sussex, England and produced by James McMillan. It features Mark Edwards (piano), Gwilym Simcock (piano), Julian Siegel (bass clarinet) and Kirk Whalum (tenor saxophone) with orchestration and big band arrangements by Chris Walden, and includes Sophie Bancroft's song "Calgary Bay", performed with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
The album received four-starred reviews in The Observer, The Guardian, the London Evening Standard and LondonJazz.
In a four-starred review for The Guardian, John Fordham said: "Carroll's subtle pitching, tone colouration and jazz improviser's timing reinvent Here's to Life as a distilled understatement accompanied only by acoustic guitar; her earthiness is revealingly complemented by soft strings on Goodbye; and Mad About the Boy is so slow as to be prayer-like".
Peter Quinn, for Jazzwise Magazine, said "Ballads sees Liane nail 11 terrific songs in magisterial fashion... Widely recorded by instrumentalists (Cannonball Adderley, McCoy Tyner) and vocalists (Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra) alike, ‘Goodbye’ has always been an exceptional song, but in Liane’s hands it charts untold depths of emotion. This is one of the few indispensable vocal jazz albums of recent years".
Dave Gelly in The Observer, gave the album four stars and said of Carroll's performance on Ballads that "Surrounded by a changing cast of the best musicians around, illuminated by piquant arrangements, her singing takes on a new, glowing depth".
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