You Are There: Duets Hilary Kole Artist

For her second recording, {|Hilary Kole|} has pulled off a coup any jazz singer can only dream of, yet it has become real. {|You Are There|} contains 13 vocal-piano duets recorded over a five-year period with some of the most renowned pianists in his... Read more

For her second recording, {|Hilary Kole|} has pulled off a coup any jazz singer can only dream of, yet it has become real. {|You Are There|} contains 13 vocal-piano duets recorded over a five-year period with some of the most renowned pianists in history, including {|Dave Brubeck|} and {|Hank Jones|}. It's even better to hear {|Kole'|}s pitch-perfect voice alongside these unquestioned masters in mostly subtle ballad versions of standards. What is also true is the program varies little from track to track -- consistent for sure, but not arresting to the point where it is commanding. The tracks with {|Jones|} will be paid attention to because of his passing before the release of the CD, but it is his distinctive, stride-flavored piano on {|If I Had You|} that remains timeless. {|Brubeck|}'s playful piano on {|These Foolish Things|} and his own {|Strange Meadowlark|} give {|Kole|} a bit more of a challenge. With {|Freddy Cole|} on piano and vocals, {|Kole|} teams up in separate lyric voicings during {|It's Always You,|} the most delightful track of the set. Then there's {|Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise|} with {|Benny Green|} extrapolating to a great degree, and {|Steve Kuhn|} getting into an atypical bluesy mood on {|Two for the Road.|} There's nothing to really criticize about {|Hilary Kole|}'s voice or inflections -- she's good as gold -- while all of the pianists play sensitively to the hilt. It's the kind of project that makes one yearn for more, a good thing in one sense, and leads to thinking about what it could have been with some variance in the rhythmic department. ~ Michael G. Nastos Less