DIANA PANTON

SOFT WINDS AND ROSES

Independent Label

Diana Panton, vocals/producer; Reg Schwager, guitar; Don Thompson, piano/vibes/ bass/arranger.

Diana Panton is a two-time JUNO Award winner.  Although her publicist insists that she is a jazz singer, on this project I disagree.  Yes, Panton has a smooth, easy-listening voice, but both her repertoire and her vocals are steeped in the pop genre.

Panton opens with the familiar Elton John tune, “Your Song” and follows that with “They Long to be Close To You,” a former huge hit record for The Carpenters.  Both are pop standards.  Panton performs them flawlessly with her feather-light, beautiful tone and appealing sincerity.

She also covers other modern pop classics from the songbooks of Lennon and McCartney, Burt Bacharach, Gordon Lightfoot, Don McLean, Joni Mitchell and more.  Her presentation on each composition is intimate and full of emotion.

“Through the years, I have recorded several compilations for the Asian market, and I was often asked to include a bonus track that was a bit more contemporary and well-known in that market than some of my more obscure song choices.  Fast forward to the present.  I decided to assemble a selection of modern standards composed from the 1960s onward … mixing well-known songs such as Elton John’s “This is Your Song” alongside some new jazz standards such as Fred Hersch’s “A Wish (Valentine),” Diana Panton explained how she picked these songs.

Her Latin arrangement on “You and I (Voce E Eu)” is quite Brazilian, with Don Thompson’s piano playing a jazzy piano solo, followed by Reg Schwager’s guitar.  Panton uses no drums, but Schwager’s rhythm guitar is solid.

Panton has recorded eleven albums over the past two decades. The first one was released in 2005. She has a huge Asian following and was awarded three Silver Disc Awards in Japan, along with a host of other awards and nominations in both Canada and America. In the past, Panton’s music has reached #1 on amazon and iTunes, both in Canada and the United States.  Her album releases have made bestseller lists in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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