Dream Awhile

When it comes to jazz and singers that perform standards, most of the performers that come to mind are men. Well, move over Michael Buble. Move over Harry Connick Jr. There’s a new voice in town and it’s a lady. Audrey Silver has a voice that’s unforgettable. I think its safe to say that she’ll give the likes of Diana Krall and Jane Monheit a run for their money. Dream Awhile is a strong sophomore effort for a singer who we can only hope is going to give us many more albums in the coming years. Her debut album Here In My Heart appeared in 2004 and fans have been waiting for new material ever since. One thing is for sure: Dream Awhile was worth the wait. On Dream Awhile, Audrey tackles eleven songs from the American Songbook and she does it with class. The songs she picked aren’t the same tried and true tracks but more eclectic picks that others may have overlooked. The album opens with Irving Berlin’s “The Song Has Ended”. The scat at the end of the song gives it a memorable twist. “In The Wee Small Hours” is a heartbreaking song of unrequited love and Audrey sings it with such longing. You automatically sympathize with the woman she’s singing about. That’s one of the things that make Audrey’s singing so special. Her voice is deep and rich, and she has a way of really emoting that makes the songs more intimate almost as though she were singing each one for you. The songs that stand out the most are tracks like “Too Marvelous For Words” and “So Many Stars”. On the “Stars”, Silver’s vocal style sounds very much like her contemporary Krall, but where the two may have similar sounding voices at times, Silver has a style all her own. My personal favorite is the album closer, “I Could Write A Book”, a very upbeat number about falling in love with a friend. There is only one other song on Dream Awhile that’s upbeat, “Exactly Like You”. These two tracks are toe tappers, and the kind that make you want to grab someone and dance they way your mother or grandmother used to dance. Audrey’s voice is a treasure. It doesn’t matter whether the songs she’s singing are about falling in love or out of it. Audrey could sing in the New York City phone book and it would sound beautiful. That statement may be cliché, but that doesn’t stop it from being true. Another reason Audrey’s Dream Awhile is a stellar recording has to do with her choice of musicians. Her current band is made up of many stellar musicians: pianist Jon Raney, bassist Tom Hubbard, guitarist Ed MacEachen, and drummer Ronnie Zito. These players, along with Silver and her voice of gold create an album that jazz fans and casual listeners won’t want to miss. After listening to Dream Awhile several times, I find myself wondering, if Audrey is this wonderful now, what will her album’s will be like a few years down the line. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Review by Andrea Guy