Janet Seidel, one of Australia’s top jazz singers, returned to London with a truly lovely evening of light jazz. Her sweet, breathy tones are reminiscent of Blossom Dearie, but it’s also clear that Doris Day has had great influence on Seidel’s vocal style.

She opened with a delightful version of “Day In, Day Out” (Johnny Mercer/Rube Bloom) accompanied by bass and guitar only, showing she has a good command of her lyrics, as well as great vocals. Other highlights included a simple, but engrossing, “It Might as Well Be Spring” with some nice tempo changes, a terrific tango/flamenco arrangement of “”Slow Hot Wind” (Henry Mancini/Norman Gimbel), a really hot “Too Darn Hot!” (Cole Porter), an outstanding original song, “Dear Blossom,” written by Seidel paying tribute to Blossom Dearie, a swinging “I Wanna Be Around” (Johnny Mercer/Sadie Vimmerstedt), and a nicely comic “Ballad of the Shape of Things to Come” (Sheldon Harnick). For me, though, the best song of the night was a boogie-woogie swing version of “Love For Sale.”

Seidel covers a wide range of styles and is always very listenable. She has a sweet, meek demeanor, which immediately draws you to her and complements her vocals to a tee. Her keyboard skills are terrific, and she’s backed by two excellent musicians—David Seidel on bass and Chuck Morgan on guitar and ukulele.

Harold Sanditen
Cabaret Scenes
October 30, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org