ANN KITTREDGE

REIMAGINE

Zevely Records, Inc.

Ann Kittredge, vocals/arranger; Wendy Cavett, Steve Ross & Christopher Denny, piano/arranging; Alex Rybeck, piano/arranging/keyboard; Sean Harkness, bass/electric guitar/arranger; Rex Benincasa & Dan Gross, drums/percussion; Mary Ann McSweeney, bass; Tom Kochan, string orchestration; Robin Zeh (CM), Paul Woodiel, & Joyce Hammann, violins; Katarzyna Bryla, viola; Deborah Assael, cello; Robbie Kondor, accordion; Steve Ross, vocals.

The tinkling keys of Wendy Cavett on piano opens this CD, introducing us to a tune called “Unwritten.”  Vocalist, Ann Kittredge enters with her very dramatic presentation, selling the lyrics that tell us to “open up the dirty window and let the sunshine in.”  Kittredge is somewhat operatic during this arrangement, exploring the full range of her voice and her emotions.  On “Before I Gaze at You Again” she features Sean Harkness on accompanying guitar.  This is a pretty Lerner and Loewe waltz, one that Kittredge stamps with a Broadway musical flare. She is wonderful at interpreting song lyrics. This composition is from the 1960 “Camelot” production.

Upon research, I find that I am completely right about her Broadway tone and approach to selling each song.  Ann Kittredge is an artist who has performed on Broadway, in Off-Broadway plays, and at major venues across the country. Based in New York, Kittredge sits on the Advisory Board of the art form of Cabaret in our nation’s capital.  She has also been a participant in both the Advisory and Executive Board of the American Songbook Association.

Ann has pulled from a more modern composer of great American songs, adding “Time in a Bottle” to her album repertoire. The song arrangement features bass, piano and accordion framing her voice in a lovely way. This tune should get a lot of pop, jazz and easy listening radio airplay. Kittredge adds tenderness and compassion to her interpretation of Jim Croce’s 1972 pop song release.

This vocalist brings the stage into my listening space, recording thirteen songs on her latest album. She is a cabaret singer who explores every lyric, each word becoming a dramatic experience that grabs me by the ear and pulls me into her musical stories. For example, on her sweet expression of “Ah – Sweet Mystery of Life” from the 1910 opera, “Naughty Marietta.” Kittredge sells the song, while featuring the guitar of Sean Harkness.  She adds a bit of philosophy into her repertoire including great tunes like Irving Berlin’s “Free” and “The Power of One” taken from the film “Pokemon: the Movie 2000.” Both songs uplift and inspire a higher good. The familiar “Edelweiss” (a Rodgers & Hammerstein composition) waltzes across my room, with Kittredge’s soprano voice dancing atop the lovely accompaniment of her pianist. She is joined in a duet by male vocalist, Steve Ross.

This album is a digital cabaret show. It transitions Ann Kittredge from the Broadway stage and cabaret clubs into the packaged artistry of an engaging recording artist.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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