What a really pleasant surprise! Like Deborah J. Carter Juliet Kelly is a jazz singer. Certainly I wouldn't have heard anything about either one without the internet. And it would be such a pity since both of them have their respective albums released by small labels, one wouldn't usually find in a record store.
Although Juliet discovered her love for jazz music relatively late in her life, since she grew up in London in a strict, religious household where all music apart from the religious variety was completely banned, she sings like she has been singing all life long.
Juliet not only has a great and rich voice but also had written eight of the ten songs on her debut album Aphrodite's Child. The two cover versions are the Hammerstein/Romberg standard Softly, As In The Morning Sunrise (that is done in a very appealing way and certainly a whole album full of cover versions and standards wouldn't have been a bad decision for a debut album, but I really like Juliet's brave move to trust in her own compositions) and a very good jazz version of Sade's first hit Your Love Is King. And like real good singers should, Juliet adopts this song and makes it her own.
All songs are recorded with a trio consisting of Mike Gorman (piano), Tom Barlow (bass) and Seb Rochford (drums). For some extra attractions there's also Tony Kofi playing saxophone on three songs (Aphrodite's Child, Siren Song and When You Believe In Love). The result is a tight and very competent musical background that's just tailor-made for Juliet's voice.
It's extremely hard to single out a favourite song since all ten songs sound great and provide enough entertainment to keep this CD in the player for hours.
Lyricwise I really like Too Late Now that tells the story of an affair that begins fine ('Our first kiss was like coming home/ A sensation like nothing I'd known/ It felt so good') but then her partner leaves, love turns sour and suddenly he wants to come back ('Now you say you were so wrong to leave/ You've realized that your future's with me/ You had your chance/ But the moment has passed/ And it's too late now')[ to read the complete lyrics click here ].
There's also the pleasant ballad Wait For Me, the swinging Love Can Change Your Life and When You Believe In Love, that tells us what can happen if you're in love. Juliet takes us to the Garden Of Eden as well, another fine original composition with some nice drum solo by Seb Roachford inbetween.
If you're into vocal jazz in general and appreciate singers like Carmen Lundy, Dianne Reeves or Nnenna Freelon, I'm sure you'll love this album. Aphrodite's Child really sounds like a very promising start of a long-term recording career for Juliet Kelly. So check out Juliet's website to hear some sound samples and make sure to get her album.