Kelly Harland has a career-full of backup singing and foreign releases under her belt, and this album is her solo U.S. debut. A dozen love songs make the lineup; she covers everyone from Hammerstein to
Bacharach. While the vocals are always pretty good,
Harland goes through the lower-tempo patches and tends to either go under-emotional, or over the top.
Twelve Times Romance holds a little bit of a cabaret feel, but is really more of a straightforward studio output in those cases. The treat is when she gets hold of an up-tempo piece. Her voice has less time to wander, and she hits the parts perfectly. Her rhythm here is what wins it for her. As such, the album is an on-again, off-again affair. When she's in her element,
Harland does a bang-up job of delivering the songs. When she's not, it's relatively mundane. Pick it up for a quick look at some local Seattle vocal jazz, but hit the bigger, older names first if you're early in your jazz years. ~ Adam Greenberg