Customer Reviews

Piano Piano

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This c.d. has received some glowing reviews in other parts. I'm sure a big reason why is that Ms. Ducros performs here at different times with five of the top pianists in the world: Chick Corea; Enrico Pieranunzi; Rene Urtreger; her usual accompanist, Benoit DeMesmay; and the incomparable Jacky Terrason. Hence the name of the c.d.

Nevertheless, I respectfully dissent.

Listening to this c.d. reminds me of the difficulties of being bilingual in English and French. In my experience, it's much easier for American singers to sing Italian or German than French. Besides the nasally sound of French, the French sound centers on the "schwa." But, most singers are taught to sing brightly. Bright sounds better than dark.

Hence, when Ms. Ducros sings "Andjle" for "Angel", for example, or "Tree" for "Three", or "Body and Saul", or "Chenged" for "Changed", or "Intoxiket" for "Intoxicate", to name but 5 examples, the sound sticks out jarringly. Two more recent vocal jazz c.d.'s by European chanteusses which didn't have that problem were last year's album by Ilona Knopfler and the recent one by Roberta Gambarini. Both of them sounded like All-American Girls.

The problem is that jazz singing has to sound like the most natural thing in the world. When the mispronunciations litter a song like "Four", for example, it sounds stiff. "Four," one of Jon Hendricks' "odes to joy", simply doesn't work when done stiffly. Same thing with "Naima"; when you have to strain to figure out what her lyrics are, the "prayerful" qualities of this magic song become lost.

All of that said, this c.d. does have its moments. Most prominent is the wordless, middle-eastern vocalese flair of Satie's "Gnossienne No. 1." Ms. Ducros has a beautiful lower register in her singing voice, and if all of the cuts took advantage of that such as this one, she would have a superior album. (I'm less impressed with her upper register, though; on "Never Let Me Go", it sounded pinched.)

This is her second release, apparently. For Release #3, I'd strongly recommend that she either stick with stuff like the Satie, or if she's going to do "Great American Songbook" standards, get a vocal coach and drill pronunciations, over and over. RC

"Piano, Piano" is Anne Ducros' first American release, and it's a charmer. True, her French inflections get the best of her phrasing at times, and her grasp of the English language (or translation) is not perfect, but Ms. Ducros has actual talent, charm, and a knack for picking great songs and great backups. How can you beat having the great Chick Corea as a backup?

Songs like "God Bless The Child," "Just In Time," "You Go To My Head," and "Naime" just need someone to deliver them well, and Ducros, despite the language issues, can deliver very, very well.