You are hereAlbum Review: Jacqui Dankworth - It Happens Quietly (Newquay Music/Proper Records)
Album Review: Jacqui Dankworth - It Happens Quietly (Newquay Music/Proper Records)
To be left without any kind of warm and fuzzy glow after hearing Jacqui Dankworth's latest album, you would have to possess a heart made entirely of plastic or some such insentient, inanimate material. IT HAPPENS QUIETLY, like a good Disney film or snow on Christmas day, delivers just the right amount of charm, one would even say several moments of pure magic.
The album is dedicated to Jacqui's father, the legendary Sir John Dankworth, who died during the making of the record. The very fact that his is the first voice you hear on the record, as he asks if his daughter is ready for him to count in the band, adds to the already bittersweet flavour of the songs themselves. You get the distinct feeling that Jacqui knew these would be her final hours with her father and was, therefore, totally unprepared for his count-in.
As well as leaving his well-known and much-loved spirit on these recordings, Sir John has also left the album dripping with spellbinding musical arrangements as well as a real goosebumper of a saxophone solo on The Man – a song co-written by this father and daughter team. And as well as the luscious string and brass arrangements on this record, there's the incomparable saxophone of Tim Garland, the exquisite bass of Jacqui's brother, Alec Dankworth and the delectable piano of Jacqui's musical director, Malcolm Edmonstone, to name just a few of the fine musicians that this record boasts.
Sir John's arrangements perfectly complement his daughter's lush, glassy vocals, mining old standards in order to produce diamonds such as In The Still of the Night and At Last – both, despite their age, sounding like brand new songs – and a version of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square that finds the listener skipping back to listen again, even before track two has had a chance to start. Make Someone Happy shows off the talents of pianist Malcolm Edmonstone, as well as the masterful production of Tony Platt, whilst The Folks On The Hill closes the album beautifully with handsome guitar accompaniment from Chris Allard and an immaculate vocal from Jacqui that surely filled Cleo with pride!
IT HAPPENS QUIETLY is a flawlessly produced, carefully structured tribute to both a father and a musical virtuoso. It's also Jacqui's finest outing yet, released just in time to provide the warm and fuzzy glow for the forthcoming autumn months.
Liam Wilkinson
Northern Sky
