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Clare
Teal - Don't Talk (Sony Jazz) Here at the Record Review Ranch, we’re a jaded bunch. We gave up listening to old-fashioned (non-satellite, non-Internet) radio for our music needs a couple of years back. So there isn’t a lot that makes us snap our heads around and say, “Zounds! Who the hell is that?” I was minding my own business one Sunday, listening to BBC Radio Two’s “Parkinson’s Sunday Supplement.” The BBC really knows how to stream – but that’s a whole ‘nuther topic for a whole ‘nuther day. Mr. Parkinson opened his show one week with Clare Teal’s “Messin’ With Fire,” the opening track from “Don’t Talk.” He said that the disc would be released soon. I knew then that I must own it. In the time between hearing the song, and holding the disc in my hot little hands, I did more than a little research on Ms. Teal. She’s been doing just fine in UK clubs for a number of years. But Parkinson likes her (he’s sort of the Johnny Carson of England), and he’s pushing her stuff hard. Sony Jazz signed her, and she’s inked a nice endorsement deal with Chrysler. Now, she’s going from well-received across the pond to huge. My guess is that a couple of years from now, you’ll have heard a lot more of her. Think Stacey Kent and Jamie Cullum. Mr. Parkinson didn’t do Michael Bublé’s career any harm, either. I went looking for “Messin’ With Fire” at All Music (www.allmusic.com). I figured it had to be some classic from the swing era that I just wasn’t that familiar with. Wrong. Ms. Teal wrote it, along with Nigel Stonier. Likewise, “Everything Is You,” which evokes one of those funky Michel Legrand/Claudine Longet (Yikes! In a good way!) tunes from the 60s. Ms. Teal is in the writing credits on that one, too. They both sound like classics. She needs to stick to the songs that swing. The ballads are a little saggy to my ear. That old Marilyn and Alan Bergman chestnut, “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life” is just the pits. But that old kids’ tune, “The Music Goes Round and Round” is just great, and the Cy Coleman classic, “When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)” is a winner, too. So are about 10 of the 13 cuts on this disc. Sony’s going to have their hands full. Interesting – that in the “thank you” credits, Ms. Teal actually thanks Parkinson’s producer, Anthony Cherry – before thanking Parky himself, who’s done so much to push Ms. Teal’s music. It’s nice to have friends with good ears. Both Ms. Teal – and Mr. Parkinson – should be grateful. You must own this disc.
- Doug Boynton |
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