Featured artist: DENZAL SINCLAIRE
Despite
his vegetarian status, Vancouver crooner
Denzal Sinclaire releases his
lyrics as if they were honed and toned in the tantalizing drip
of succulent barbecue fat. And then, when we least expect it,
it occurs to us that his vibrant voce is positively something
else in the way it evokes not so much moods, but exquisite intimacies
that disarm us with their soft light and quiet elegance. While
some singers use music in order to lose themselves, Denzal’s
repertoire allows him to discover and reveal himself, and makes
his listeners seek out the person as much as the performer.
The harder
they strive, the harder they fall is the lesson learned from the
legions of upwardly mobile singers who lost their vital center
trying to ape and emulate their idols and influences. Denzal’s
triumph, in part, derives from consistently rising to the occasion
of staying within himself, turning the music he loves into mostly
endearing self portraits. His interpretations of The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face and Black Bird, from his first album, I
Found Love, will make you all but forget your favorite versions.
Comparing
the voice to a delivery system, and with a nod from critics on
both sides of the 49th, Sinclaire has definitely learned how to
make the American Songbook serve his vision. Reeves and Krall
are among his fans, and you can hear him singing They Didn't Believe
Me and Mad About the Boy in the film Being Julia. But
he is at his best when he goes out on a limb, risking it all to
make an enduring musical statement. After Torme, Sinatra and Connick,
we only thought we knew everything about Rogers and Hart’s
timeless Where or When -- until Denzal melts it down to its essence
in the crucible of his not-to-be-stilled beating heart. Combining
plaintive voice with midnight bass, the song hangs together by
a slender thread of raw nerve and bated breath, with both singer
and bassist totally exposed, to the effect that this version has
to be a serious candidate for best jazz interpretation of the
year. No wonder the prestigious Verve label (Ella, Billie, Louis)
added Denzal to their team, a sure indicator that here is a singer
whose star is not consigned to Canadian skies only.
Denzal Sinclaire is the title of his latest album, featuring
Exactly Like You, I’ve Got Rhythm, Be My Love, How Glad
I Am and four originals.
Listen
to Denzal sing WHERE
OR WHEN
