LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Great Scott Productions) - Jazz singer's debut album, scheduled for release March 3rd, is an inspired feast of standards, international songs and contemporary tunes.
A love affair with jazz that began at the tender age of 6, chanteuse Mary Talbot Fee will realize a life-long dream when her debut album, Midwinter Night's Dream, is released March 3rd on Sketchin' Records. Rob & Amber Whitlock produced the generous fifteen-song collection of jazz standards, international songs and contemporary compositions anchored by Talbot Fee's sophisticated, swoon-inducing voice that takes listeners on an enchanting artistic and theatrical musical journey. The Whitlock's composed three new songs for the disc, including the title track, which was co-authored by Talbot Fee, who sings fluently in four languages on the album (English, French, Italian and Portuguese).
Midwinter Night's Dream is the culmination of Talbot Fee's years of jazz vocals study. The CD beautifully incorporates her diverse interests making it an intimate and very personal collection. With winter being a time for rebirth, she brazenly decided the time was perfect to take a chance on sharing her passion for jazz with the world. A masterful ensemble backed her in the studio including keyboardist Rob Whitlock (Jazz Crusaders, Eddie Harris), bassist Trey Henry (Tierney Sutton), drummer Cliff Almond (Michele Camillo), guitarist Pat Kelley (George Benson), percussionist Luis Conte (James Taylor), violinist Charlie Bisharat (John Tesh) and flutist John Rekevics (Checkfield) along with a talented cast of singers that included Amber Whitlock (Max Bennett) and Kleber Jorge (Sergio Mendes). The decidedly adult album serves up throwback standards like "If I Had You" and Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer's "Moment To Moment," sultry sambas ("Nuages"), romantic duets ("Anema E Core"), cabaret tunes ("On An Evening In Roma") and modern gems including John Lennon & Paul McCartney's "Norwegian Wood," Joni Mitchell's "River," and a pair from Stevie Wonder ("Knocks Me Off My Feet" and "Bird Of Beauty"). The three originals - "Winter Snow Ballet," "Inverno Di Gielo" and the title track - unify and further the album's motif - the gifts of winter - despite their varied stylings, moods and languages.
"Winter's dream enters my slumber, stills my thoughts, and encourages me to rest, renew and restore for the coming year's journey," reflected Talbot Fee on her inspiration for the album. "I don't fall into the role that people would consider traditional, but I can't let that stop me now. I don't know where my recording will travel, but I know that I did the right thing taking this risk in trying. It's my turn to express myself fully and I have a lot to express!"
Now residing in San Diego, Talbot Fee grew up in New England in a musical household where scintillating parties of Tanglewood and the New York theatre elite would gather to light up the night with music and dramatic expression. Her mother, Angela, for whom the album is dedicated, was an opera singer and a musical comedy actress who performed at Carnegie Hall. Talbot Fee was introduced to opera, show tunes, jazz and singing in church at a young age. Despite her deep affection for jazz and numerous years of study and training with the likes of Kevyn Lettau and others well-respected, she chose to focus on dance, figure skating and teaching. Now, not wanting to leave anything out of a rich and colorful life, Talbot Fee decided to finally pursue the dream of recording the album she has had long ruminating deep inside. Additional information is available at www.marytalbotfee.com and www.sketchinrecords.com.
The songs contained on Talbot Fee's Midwinter Night's Dream are:
"If I Had You"
"Nuages"
"Anema E Core"
"Winter Snow Ballet"
Intro/"Norwegian Wood"
"Moment To Moment"
"River"
"On An Evening In Roma"
"In The Bleak Midwinter"
"Knocks Me Off My Feet"
"Inverno Di Gielo"
"Midwinter Night's Dream"
"Angela"
Intro/"I Will Wait For You"
"Bird Of Beauty"
