The poetic voice that calms and consoles

The voice of Stacey Kent is elegant, warming and has the feeling of velvet. This is the woman who has won a multitude of awards and recognitions and has enamoured great connoisseurs of vocal jazz like film director Clint Eastwood, who invited her to sing at his 70th birthday. She comes to the Teatro de la Maestranza stage with a quartet of sax and flute, piano, bass, and drums to present Songs from other places, released in 2021. This latest recording was created with pianist Art Hirahara, a most subtle “partner” who envelopes her intimate and soothing songs.

Although she always enjoyed listening to Benny Carter or Django Reinhardt, Stacey Kent (New Jersey, 1968) did not consider a life of music when she arrived in England to study Comparative Literature. There, she met the philosopher and saxophonist Jim Tomlison and went on to study music, appeared in a film or two, did a jazz programme for a BBC radio station, signed a contract with Candid Records and, in 1997, began to record albums that were awarded Gold and Platinum status.

Songs from other places, her work with Art Hirahara, is an eclectic and captivating collection of songs - some were written for her by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, who has collaborated with Kent for years - mixed with standards like Blackbird and pieces by Paul Simon, Jobim or Steve Nicks. All of them have that poetic and literary air which characterize the music of Stacey Kent, contemplative songs which share the vision of a journey as a possibility to transform and reflect about places and a sense of belonging. She does this by oscillating between a nostalgic tone and the radiating happiness of a singer who has known how to interact with a wide audience, the proof being her 325 million reproductions in Spotify.

Make yourself comfortable and enjoy a silky voice which translates the piano duo in her album into a live music quintet to calm and console your evening. You will see your heart reflected in her songs.