Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Georgia Mancio: Silhouette

Georgia Mancio: Silhouette

By Bruce Lindsay
May 31, 2010
View read count

Georgia Mancio celebrates 10 years as a professional jazz singer with Silhouette, her third album. The mix of standards and original compositions, delivered in Mancio's light but distinctive voice, and accompanied by some of the finest musicians on the British jazz scene, is a genuine cause for such celebration. Silhouette is innovative, lyrically inventive, risky at times and always rewarding.

Mancio's vocal delivery is reminiscent of

Anita O'Day

vocals
1919 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">Anita O'Day's; her enunciation is clear and precise but there is a lightness in the delivery that is immediately enticing. On most of the original songs she acts as lyricist, while two of the album's three pianists take responsibility for the music—Tim Lapthorn composed four songs while

Kate Williams

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Kate Williams does the job on "Silhouette." Only one original song, "Finisterre," is written by Mancio alone. It's a strange, slightly threatening, first person tale on which Mancio is accompanied solely by Dave Ohm's percussion. "Silhouette" opens the album, with a sad tale of an old man reflecting on his life "like a dream half-remembered" that could be inspired by the plays of Samuel Beckett. The backing, especially Williams' piano and Julie Walkington's bass, is superb and sets the standard for the remaining songs. A fresh arrangement of "Silhouette" closes the album—this time it's a wordless a capella duet between Mancio and

Ian Shaw

vocals
b.1962

" data-original-title="" title="">Ian Shaw that adds even more mystery to the song.

"Question the Answer" is a quirky number that might best be described as "semi-original," wedding Mancio's lyrics to

Pat Metheny

guitar
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Pat Metheny's song of the same name. The arrangement, by Mancio and pianist John Pearce, features fine piano from Pearce and elegant flute from Gareth Lockrane, while the lyric challenges the cynicism of politics and religion, albeit a little disingenuously. The tune swings, and the overall feel is strongly reminiscent of songs featured on the satirical British '60s TV show That Was The Week That Was, as a musical commentary on current events. That program was both popular and controversial—the singer was Millicent Martin, a stylish jazz vocalist who later found greater fame as Daphne's mother on the TV show Frazier.

Two covers merit special mention and ably demonstrate Mancio's risk-taking. On

Tom Waits

piano and vocals
b.1949

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "Take it With Me," Mancio delivers a beautiful and ultimately optimistic vocal, underpinned by sparse and empathic bass and cello from Walkington and Gregor Riddell. Mancio and Ohm's arrangement of "Just In Time" plays with the rhythm and tempo of the tune, creating shifts in mood and style but never failing to ensure that the tune swings from beginning to end. It's helped enormously by two more fine performances from Pearce and Lockrane, although Mancio's vocal would benefit from added bite in the faster passages.

Silhouette is a fine album, demonstrating what can be accomplished by singers when they are prepared to innovate and take risks. Mancio's performance—often within arrangements that would expose any weakness—puts her at the top of the ever-growing tree of jazz vocalists, and can only enhance her reputation.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Silhouette; Question the Answer; Solace; Take it With Me; Just in Time; Slowly; TransOceanica; Modinha; Slice; Finisterre; Silhouette.

Personnel

Georgia Mancio

vocals

Georgia Mancio: vocals; Julie Walkington: double-bass; Dave Ohm: drums, percussion; John Pearce: piano (2, 5, 8); Kate Williams: piano (1); Tim Lapthorn: piano (3, 6, 7, 9); Dave Colton: guitar (6); Gareth Lockrane: flute (1, 2, 5, 9); Gregor Riddell: cello (4, 7); Ian Shaw: vocals (7, 11).

Album information

Title: Silhouette | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Roomspin Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Take Five with Julian Waterfall Poll...
< Previous

Steve Swell: Sound Miracles
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.