Spotlight CD Review
Peter Davenport - Clear Day
Making his recording debut,
Peter Davenport sets himself thelofty challenge of
remaining true to the origins of the familiar songs he sings whilst
discovering new ways to tell their stories. The degree to which he
succeeds will ultimately be decided by the individual listener, of course,
but certainly Davenport has managed to present new takes on songs by the
likes of Burton Lane, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Jimmy Van Heusen
and Johnny Burke through a combination of new arrangements by
Christopher Marlowe and a decision to take most of the material at a slow
and easy pace.
This might be considered
predominantly a late night album, with delicate accompaniments on guitar
and piano suffused by Davenport’s sonorous vocals, gently moving between
a latin, jazz and traditional standard feel. Each song is deftly handled
and for the most part an unhurried delivery allows the listener time to
consider the lyrics and their newly fashioned phrasing. Thus, ‘On A
Clear Day’, opening with matinal piano chords and supported midway by a
fluid and contemplative sax, is never belted, remaining optimistic rather
than triumphant, ending quietly but purposefully.
Davenport allows his vocals to
soar and the pace to pick up in Kander and Ebb’s ‘First You Dream’,
and handles the bigger sound with aplomb, contrasting it with pianissimo
singing that underlines the adroit control he brings to the singing
process.
Several innovative pairings
support Davenport’s stated aim to infuse something new into familiar
material. Particularly noteworthy is the medley of Richard Rodgers’
‘The Sweetest Sounds’ with Valle and Gimbel’s ‘So Nice’, where
an interesting fusion of staccato verse and legato chorus bridges two
musical styles and works to integrate apparently disparate songs.
Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny
Mercer’s ‘I Thought About You’ is given all the space and time it
needs to be recast from others’, more urgent, interpretations, as is
Jobim’s ‘Quiet Nights’, whilst the less familiar ‘Born For You’
by David Zippel and David Pomeranz as well as Bob Dorough’s ‘I’ve
Got Just About Everything’, sit comfortably with their more illustrious
fellow travellers, as do Davenport’s own compositions, two of which are
included on the album, though the closing track, ‘Stop, Look and
Listen’ might have benefited from a re-recording.
Davenport is an intelligent and talented interpreter as well as a gifted performer of these songs. It will be interesting to see in which direction he decides to take his career but he deserves recognition for already making this very worthy contribution to the catalogue of recorded music that had initially inspired him in his childhood.