Alan and Marilyn Bergman (writers of "Windmills of Your Mind" and many other great hits)

"Jacqui is warm, soulful and swinging. What could be better? She’s the product of a great gene pool – (the best argument for heredity we can think of!) with her own style, her own approach to a song. Hers is a voice to be listened to – again and again."

-Alan and Marilyn Bergman

March 2006

Jacqui Dankworth Detour Ahead Candid CCD79796
Inhabiting broadly the same stylistic area (and employing the same basic trio: bassist Alec Dankworth, guitarist Mike Outram, drummer Roy Dodds) as Jacqui Dankworth’s earlier Candid release, As the Sun Shines Down on Me, Detour Ahead is both immediately attractive and subtle enough to reward repeated listening. Dankworth’s great strengths are a wonderfully flexible voice that enables her to move easily and unaffectedly between passionate declamation and intimate confidences; a sympathy with and understanding of a lyric’s meaning that result in her forging a close bond with the listener; and taste wide and deep enough to allow her to select songs from any source (standards, bossa nova, contemporary balladry, her own experiences) and imbue them with originality. A tender visit to ‘But Beautiful’ is juxtaposed with an almost lilting ‘On the Street Where You Live’; a discreetly propulsive Paul Simon song, ‘Train in the Distance’ with an achingly emotional version of ‘Not Like This’ (made famous by Al Jarreau), but whatever she’s singing, Dankworth immerses herself in a song’s emotional world every time she picks up the microphone, and this highly highly enjoyable album should serve as an appetiser for her equally lively, wide-ranging and skilfully programmed live performances.

It's never been easy for the jazz singer, working in the most revealing and exposed of musical areas - there's not even an instrument to hide behind - out now the bar is higher than ever. And it's bar Jacqui Dankworth sails over in style.

This is partly because all the things modern jazz singers have begun doing - varying the instrumentation, bringing in influences from rock and folk music, writing their own songs - Jacqui has been doing for years. It's partly that she knows the stakes have been raised and seems to relish the challenge.

There's an increased sophistication, a fine-tuning of the elements, and an improvement on the recording quality that make Detour Ahead her best recording yet, and one which puts her firmly in the top division.

Take the title track. It covers all the bases- a strong song made famous by Billie Holiday (though it was Sarah Vaughan's version that inspired Jacqui), a fine arrangement that begins with double bass and drums behind the rock-pulsed vocal, a bluesy guitar solo, a piano entry after verse two, with some multi-tracked scat singing, all helping to build and develop the mood which combines hope and trepidation. The singer shoots up into the stratosphere at the song's climax showing her indebtness to her mother for an exceptional set of vocal cords, before ending on a perfectly held note.

And the album continues in this strong vein. A perfectly judged But Beautiful, a sprightly On The Street Where You Live, a couple of shrewd choices in Paul Simon's Train In The Distance and I Can't Make You Love Me, made famous by Bonnie Raitt, as well as a strong if conventional reading of Ivan Lins's The Island (in fact this tune benefits from a no-fooling approach).

As a performer she doesn't put a foot wrong throughout, and has a not-so-secret weapon too, in the shape of guitarist Mike Outram, a super-sensitive accompanist and a profound soloist. ****

It's common for jazz artists to be inhibited in a recording studio and float free in live performance. Jacqui Dankworth, whose skills and taste have grown immeasurably over the past two years, tends to be opposite. With last year's Candid Records’ album ‘As The Sun Shines Down on Me’, and now its follow-up Detour Ahead, Dankworth has released two disks that can barely be separated for quality and compassionate soulful ness, and she seems to throw in the knack of hardly ever selecting a dud song into the bargain.

But you can't step anywhere near the smoother end of today's jazz world without running into countless nice singers who sing nice songs, so what makes her different? For a start, she has grown more spontaneous and flexible over the years, and now has the technical resources to rework songs afresh throughout their running time, so you're always in for a surprise, even withing the most routine structure.

She underplays her skillfulness, so she often sounds as if she'd be singing this song anyway, whether you were listening or not. Add an intelligent blend of traditional and contemporary songs, plus musical partners who understand her, and the reason for her recent successes start to clarify. Like the last disc, this one features the fine guitarist Mike Outram, but rotates three of Dankworth's favorite pianists (Malcolm Edmonstone, David Gordon and James Pearson), a quietly emphatic
rhythm section and a guest appearance from trumpeter Linley Hamilton. On the title track and on the Bonnie Raitt vehicle I can't Make You love Me, Dankworth sounds at times as if she's edging into a less bluesy version of Cassandra Wilson's rootsy acoustic music, but a set of standards shows that the disc intends to spread the net wide.
Dankworth is a sublime American Songbook singer, airy and loose with On The Street Where You Live, spare and patient with My Romance, spinning changing stories out of songs that would seem to have a few more to tell.

They may be grooming Jacqui Dankworth for one of those big smooth - jazz record deals, but as long as she's allowed to keep making her own choices, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

JOHN FORDHAM

Detour Ahead (CCD 79796)
*****
Dankworth's latest stab at a higher profile and her best to date. Blending easy swing (On The Street Where You Live), reinvented standards (Detour Ahead), Latin Pop (Ivan Lins' The Island) and moody, increasingly convincing originals (especially Time Takes Its Time, written with pianist David Gordon), there's an unfettered, joie de vivre quality to Dankworth's vocals these days that's a real tonic.

JACQUI DANKWORTH / DETOUR AHEAD

Jacqui Dankworth (vocals); Mike Outram (acoustic & electric guitars);Malcolm Edmondson (piano & fender rhodes); David Gordon (piano); James Pearson (piano);
Alec Dankworth (bass); Tim Harries (bass); Dominic Seldis (bass); Roy Dodds (drums & percussion); Linley Hamilton (trumpet)

Daughter of the celebrated Sir John and Dame Cleo, Jacqui Dankworth along with her brother Alec, the bassist, who also appears on this record, can be said to have truly inherited the jazz gene. Writers often struggle to find and agree on a definition of what constitutes jazz singing; suffice to say, you know it when you hear it and there is sufficient on this disc to enable you to tell it apart from some the other contemporary vocal offerings that claim to be associated with jazz.

Jacqui's phrasing and note bending, her ability to create rhythmic tension by ducking and diving around the beat are the very essence of jazz singing and she displays her mastery of the genre with the help of some superb musicians and a carefully chosen set of songs that offer sufficient scope for her to run the gamut of her vocal range and expressiveness before us.

All these qualities are evident in the opening title track where she negotiates an ambitiously arranged mélange of variegated tempi. The band performs well too, with Mike Outram's guitar work being particularly impressive. A soulful huskiness with blues inflexions informs her version of “But Beautiful “in which she is supported by Outram and rhythm section only. Brother Alec gets to solo on a jaunty, swing fed version of “On the Street Where You Live” in which the old standard is considerably freshened and made to sit comfortably alongside the more contemporary tunes. Of these there is a super version of Paul Simon's “Train in the Distance”, with a blistering solo from Outram, and a trio of Jacqui originals, my favorite being a tune entitled “Strange Woman” which features a gentle rocking beat and a gospel to country feel.

As important as her command of the jazz idiom is Jacqui's clear enunciation of the lyrics. This is particularly important in the ballads which benefit from her clean diction and unaffected accent which has just enough in the way of transatlantic overtones to authenticate the songs. “I Can't Make You Love Me”, a country music ballad, the seductive “The Island” and the limpid “Gentle Rain”, the former being a standout track. “Not Like This” is a show tune ballad in which the singer projects in a way that derives from her acting and stage experience and her time with acoustic band ‘Field of Blue’ is recalled by a rather complex tune, “Time Takes It's Time”. Finally we have as a bonus track, a funky trifle by Jacqui herself called “Come Home Baby” which features a brilliant trumpet solo by Linley Hamilton full of slurs, half valved and triple tongued effects, finishing the disc on an ebullient note.

So, as you can see there is plenty of variety. Take pleasure from the vocal and instrumental delights on offer here. If like me you haven't had much exposure to Ms Dankworth's work in the past I urge you to hear this disc and relish a very pleasant surprise.

REVIEWED BY EUAN DIXON

Jacqui Dankworth - Detour Ahead

THE ALBUM INTERVIEW

Jacqui (v); plus various personnel including Malcolm Edmonstone (p,ky);

Mike Outram (g); Alec Dankworth (b); Roy Dodds (d perc)

REC. DEC. 2003 - MARCH 2004

From the brooding intensity of the title track, the minimalist intro/outro of which frames a sudden burst of intense colour at its heart, to the breezy insouciance of 'On The Street Where You Live', Jacqui Dankworth's second album for Candid is a more than worthy successor to her critically acclaimed debut As The Sun Shines Down On Me.

As on the debut there is a palpable sense of a singer who is able to completely internalise a song's melodic line and lyric, but on Detour Ahead you also sense a singer and pianist, David Gordon.

The multipartite 'Time Takes It's Time' is a masterpiece of construction whose expansive and intricate arrangement - beautifully sung by Dankworth - acts as something of a benchmark for the album as a whole. The music's subtle repetitions, familiar echoes and halting progress perfectly reflect the sentiment of the lyric. The pool of great musicians whose services are called upon - Mike Outram and sibling Alec among others - would, of course, be any singer's dream. Special mention must be made of Dominic Seldis' soaring bass work in the languorous 'Gentle Rain'; backed by pianist (and arranger) James Pearson. The track called to mind the recent work of Morelenbaum / Sakamoto.

With other treats including a radically telescoped 'My Romance' and the ever-shifting harmonies of 'The Island', Detour Ahead will undoubtedly rank as one of the finest vocal albums of 2004.

Jazzwise talks to Jacqui Dankworth about Detour Ahead.

How did the approach to recording Detour Ahead differ from your Candid debut?

The approach was different simply because on As The Sun Shines Down On Me we turned up at Roy's (producer Roy Dodds) front room studio and got it together on the spot! Funnily enough that album was meant to be a demo and I never thought a record company would want to pick it up as a package! The arrangements for Detour Ahead were done differently in that I asked the musicians beforehand to help. When the record company is footing the bill you have to have it pre-organised to a certain extent.

You've introduced the piano on the second album, which you didn't use at all on the debut. What prompted that decision?

I wanted this album to reflect a different side of what I do. I wanted to keep this intimacy of the first album whilst adding different colours of a more percussive nature. It was difficult at first to make the adjustment but now we're able to have a little more drama in the live sound. I truly think it's important to keep trying to evolve and stretch.

The accompaniment - whether piano or guitar - is exemplary. What do you look for in an accompanist?

Accompanying is a skill in itself-the difficulty of which is not to be take lightly. Often, musicians who like words are great because they care about the meaning of the song. I've worked with great musicians who are not necessarily good accompanists. It's about giving completely.

PETER QUINN

Worth a detour

Jazz is in the blood: Jacqui Dankworth knows that, as she tells Joe Cushley.

When I first heard Norah Jones I thought "Oh! Bloody hell!" Jacqui Dankworth wasn't expressing dismay at La Jones's talent, but was mildly miffed because she herself had recorded an album, As The Sun Shines Down On Me, which mixed jazz and pop evocatively and eclectically, and which had been sitting around unreleased for a while, having predated Jones's debut in its recording. Not that Dankworth is at all jealous. And to be quite frank she is streets ahead of Jones in feel, natural ability and technique.

"As my mum says, 'In this business, your career isn't over until you die'." Mum is Cleo Laine, of course; though as Dankworth relates -'I've never consciously ridden on the name. Foolishly perhaps. Actually, Mum and Dad (John Dankworth) didn't think I could sing when I was young! And, as a kid, my brother (Alec) used to punch me every time I tried to open my mouth! I have to add that we've played together in bands a lot since those days. It was only at boarding school that I started to sing and act. There was a music teacher, David Tutt, and a drama teacher, Margaret Steward, there, who really stretched me. I was listening to all sorts of things at school. Al Jarreau, who didn't sing Jazz 'straight' either; Earth, Wind & Fire; John Coltrane; Chet Baker; Chaka Khan. Joni Mitchell was as much as a heroine as Billie Holiday, most definitely. Though I have to say, when I played the jazz I was constantly told to 'turn that rubbish off!'"

After school Dankworth went to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and embarked on an acting rather than singer career, working with the RSC and at the National; though the singing was always there, and she mixed the two often, as in her stint in the West End cast of Sondheim's Into the woods. By the mid-90's the singing was beginning to take up more time. She had met Harvey Brough, who used to lead Harvey & The Wallbangers.

"I was meant to be his lodger and we ended up getting married." They both vocalised in Field of Blue, the band they put together, and released two albums. It was a bad time when we split up, but Roy Dodds (her drummer), said “Come on, you've got to get up on your feet.” So we went into the studio and we made As The Sun Shines Down...as a demo; and Alan Bates at Candid Records (Jamie Cullum's label) said he'd like to sign me. The album came out in November of last year, and he said he wanted another one by February. Which was a bit nutty!"

Thus was ‘Detour Ahead’ born. "I think it's got a bit more edge than As The Sun Shines Down..." She's probably right, but for jazzers, it does include a beautiful swinging version of On The Street Where You Live. And again it mixes jazz, pop and Latin flavors, and some splendid Dankworth originals, in a thoroughly modern mode. It establishes Dankworth as one of our most talented all-round vocalists.

I've always known that I was more of a slow-burn artist. I'm taking control of things for the first time. I sometimes wish I'd bloody done that when I was younger though!" She laughs. "But whatever happens, it's been a good career. Very rich..." She checks herself. "Though not in money terms! I've toured with John Dexter's theatre company to India; I sung with Courtney Pine. When they phoned me I thought it was a hoax! I've just recorded with the Brodsky Quartet, and I've presented Jazz Sirens on the radio with Mum." And as her Mum says “it ain't over till you die”.

Jacqui Dankworth's latest album 'Detour Ahead' has just been released on Candid Records

JAZZ CD OF THE WEEK

Some singers are good at recasting well-known songs into revealing new shapes; some are at their best when performing their own material, and some make things happen by swinging a simple melody with the minimum of variation. Jacqui Dankworth does all these things in this set, one after the other. She takes the title piece, an old torch song, and makes it sound positively spooky. She imparts a mesmeric stillness to her own piece 'Time Takes its Time', and her straightforward 'On the Street Where You Live' is the best jazz version I have heard. On top of all this, she has probably the most flexible and expressive voice of her generation. The accompaniment varies but the core of it is her regular trio, with her brother Alec, on bass, drummer Roy Dodds and guitarist Mike Outram, who seems at last to be getting the exposure his talents deserve.

DETOUR AHEAD

As a potential diva Jacqueline Dankworth has fine credentials: Easy on the eye, easy on the ear and the daughter of John and Dame Cleo Laine. The elastic bass riff and insistent snare of the title track from Detour Ahead (Candid) suggest we are going to get more than cozy standards. There are versions of On The Street Where You Live and

My Romance that will please the easy-listening crowd but more interesting are the country-ish I Can't Make You Love Me and the funky Come Home Baby.

Dankworth has a wonderful voice, pure and passionate, capable of octave swoops. The arrangements are subtle and understated, and even if the Material isn't quite of a standard to make this a breakthrough album, there's a lot to admire.