John Shand
May 23, 2016
Jazz singer Hetty Kate reminds me of a good champagne: simultaneously effervescent and restrained. She also has natural elegance, a pretty voice devoid of any harshness, excellent diction (notable on a fleet Love Me or Leave Me) and a breezy rhythmic sense in her phrasing. Yet often the net result was "jazz lite", as though she has never asked herself why she does what she does. Nonetheless, if she is never going to dazzle you with invention or slice your heart in two she is certainly good enough to engage, to bring something of her own to a program of standards and to employ a top-shelf band.
She was at her best on No More Blues, that effervescence and restraint a natural fit with this up-tempo bossa nova. Other stand outs were Why Don't You Do Right? sung against just bass and drums, with a little sassiness lending deeper colour to the prettiness and elegance, and Something Cool, where a certain detachment suited the lyric's world-weariness. Less successful was Stardust, which demanded a deeper excavation of the lyrics rather than idle beauty.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/hetty-kate-quartet-review-no-dazzle-or-heartbreak-but-still-plenty-to-engage-20160523-gp19ad.html#ixzz49aa5xQ5h
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