Customer Reviews

Rhythm Romance

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Even as an 80's pop singer, Mari Wilson was a throwback to an earlier time and singers like Julie London and Peggy Lee. The best of her work has the sophisticated feel of 1950's jazz-pop about it ("Cry Me A River" and "Dance with A Stranger"). This 1991 cd shows evidence of the time Mari spent honing her vocal skills in jazz clubs in the late 1980's. Her voice seems to have deepened a bit and sounds more natural and fuller. Her version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" is absolutely lovely. There is a new version of "Cry Me a River" and another Julie London classic "No Moon at All", which are both simply wonderful. Some of the material has a certain "Smooth-Jazz" vibe to it, which I find a bit dated with its synthy keyboards(however I have honestly never been a fan of the smooth-jazz genre). Throughout it all is Mari Wilson's voice and its warm, full tones. She has turned into a top notch chanteuse and she easily gives Stacey Kent, Jane Monheit et al a run for their money. There are some top notch jazz players like Guy Barker and Chico Freeman backing her up admirably. The latin-tinged strains of "Cielo" and "the Rhythm" also work remarkably well for her voice. These days Mari focuses on being a mum and perfoming in jazz clubs, if I could only catch one of her gigs at Ronnie Scott's...

Finally available to us lowly Americans! Mari's 1991 Solo cd The Rhythm Romance available again, in it's expanded form (with 2 Japanese bonus Tracks) once again at a reasonable price. A fine mix of her trademark Romantic vocal stylings mixed with trad. Jazz interpretations of favorite standards. This woman Should be a household name! I think Diana Krall is wonderful, but Mari has a uniqueness Vulnerability that makes her stand alone.

With just having heard the new material from Mari Wilson, I am convinced you better snatch this cd up! "Cause when people hear the new stuff, they are going to want the past releases!
Get it before the prices go up!
Man, the new stuff is, well....It's all about Mari!