This is the first recording work by Pauline London, singer, composer and author, whose music is crossed by jazz, lounge, nu-jazz, latin-bossa suggestions, linked by an incisive and rarefied vocality at the same time. Born as a jazz-singer Pauline moves with ease towards the territories of the new electronic scene, managing to effectively mix jazzy-flavoured songs with new sounds. In recent years she has participated in various recording projects, as a vocalist and author, among which we remember Barrio Jazz Gang. With the Dynamic Four she recorded the song ‘I Should Forget’ included in the Jazz Lounge compilation of the American label Water Music alongside songs by artists including Norah Jones, Koop, St Germain and Chet Baker. ‘Quiet skies’, debut album, reveals a mix of refined and evocative sounds that follow the success obtained by the vocal performance of the now famous song ‘Linda Cançao’ broadcast by all Italian radios and in particular by RMC in the evening segments dedicated to quality music. The compositional matrix is suspended between jazz-song, refined pop and the essentiality of hypnotic and enveloping loops of a very current style. It leads us from cool-jazz to the warm territories of bossa-nova, along a captivating and suggestive sound path. The 13 original tracks, all written by Pauline and well supported by an excellent arrangement work, capture the listener with their reflective and sunny mood. Pauline has sung and studied the repertoire of the great jazz vocalists, including Sarah Vaughan, Ella, Carmen McRae, Dinah Washington and internalized the great interpreters of bossa nova from Astrud Gilberto to Elis Regina. She is also a valid vocal improviser that collects the tradition of scat singing enriching it with phrases derived from other musical languages such as ethnic music and pop.
The CD opens with the deep and intense ‘Love can sing’, with a cool taste, but endowed with a strong emotionality, made even more precious by the “magical” intervention of the soprano sax of the great Paolo Innarella.
‘Stay by my side’ is characterized by the broken beat arrangement with the help of the string orchestra, while the melody hovers persuasive and cyclical.
The third track, ‘Out of the winter’ is a refined reference to sunny and light atmospheres well rendered by the singability and colors of the sax and voice. An intimate and warm rhythmic solo of the jazz guitar, which leads to the end of the song, gives us moments of absorbed and relaxing pleasure.
‘Sing a lullaby’ is a latin-dancefloor track with a fiery rhythmic progression and a superb electronic touch. The voice is the right counterpoint to a happy party atmosphere that can be found in Rio de Janeiro, as in Havana or in a beach club during the tropical summer.
The guitar repeats a riff of considerable strength, which easily enters the mind of the listener.
In the well-known track ‘Fly in the sky’ Pauline sings with her well-characterized style, reminding us of the atmospheres created by Shirley Bassey in the spy movies of the 60s. Great heart and great inspiration skillfully packaged.
‘Vibraçao’ with its dancing bassline and acoustic guitar played by Steve “Fisher” Micarelli takes us directly into the typical Brazilian atmosphere, where the flute underlines a joyful and relaxed pace.
‘Bubbles’ is an inspired and playful jazz song that starts from the cool and dark color of the double bass to open up to the sexy and sinuous vocality of the theme. The intervention of the vibraphone and the wind instruments warm up the mood even more with its characteristic jazz sound.
‘Dance the life’ is an irresistible downtempo soul-track with Hammond, acoustic guitar, drums and percussions where the soprano sax duets with Pauline’s voice in a live club atmosphere.
The Latin-sounding ‘May be yesterday’ starts with a solid-groove rimshot while the electric guitar riffs hark back to the typical 70’s funky sound.
The thick and cyclical bass lines support the vocal parts with an accentuated rhythm that flows into a fantastic scat-beats. The flute gives the overall sound an additional vibrant touch.
‘Talkin’ to the Moon’ is a jazz ballad with a lyrical and intimate spirit, nocturnal and lunar that harks back to the ancestral belonging to a feminine, poetic and dreamlike universe.
‘In your eyes’ is a chill-out-flavored track that contains the captivating rhythm of bossa, enriched by a pop mood and the incisive intervention of electronics.
The first of the two remixes, by Barrio Jazz Gang, ‘Fly in the sky’ begins with a brilliant jazz broken beat, which is an unmistakable trademark of their sound.
The solid bass and electric piano support Pauline’s airy and suggestive vocals.
The rhythmic line of the bongoes runs fast on the groove and the orchestral breaks together with the guitar transport us to the atmosphere of action cinema
‘May be yesterday’ is the second Barrio’s remix and is conceived as a club-jazz dancefloor.
The scat in open. The sound of the Hammond and the tura take us to a retro dimension, also expertly created by the use of filters on the voice.
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