Janet Evra: Meet Me in Paris

One can, it is said, always find new wine in old bottles, assuming you have a good grapes to harvest and a knowledgeable vintner. Janet Evra, of British birth but now based in St Louis Missouri, is one such maker of good wine. The materials are, for the most part, familiar, but the genre is French as are many of the names associated with the tunes. Meet Me In Paris is indeed a pleasant treat. If your taste runs to Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet or Claude Lelouch films, Evra's most recent recording may indeed be welcome.

While Evra also plays string bass (with a distinctly American four strings), that is not really much in evidence here. The music is about her voice and stylings, a slightly come-hither tone entirely suited to the music at hand. Evra's band supports her very well; the musicians understand their function is to embellish and support the singing, not to overwhelm it. This they do quite capably and set a very relaxed mood.

Of course, not everything here is, in a strict sense, of French vintage. Evra adds a few originals ("Mia Mia," "Paris Encore"), and Cole Porter's "C'est Magnifique," but the rest is hardcore boite de nuit fare. "La Mer/Beyond the Sea" is often associated with Bobby Darin, but Evra puts her own distinctive stamp on it. But if one's taste runs to "La Vie en Rose" or "C'est Si Bon," here they are.

Some of Evra's other recordings suggest desire to broaden her audience, and to perform with topflight jazz players like Randy Brecker and Benny Benack. So much the better because these and other instrumentalists add rhythmic variation and dynamic modulation. They only serve to render her instrument—a lovely voice—more appealing. Sometimes, the bossa nova artists who Evra also admires were able to accomplish this by only a slight inflection in voice—or even a well-placed breath. Who could forget Antonio Carlos Jobim's unforgettable "aaaah" in "Girl from Ipanema" Getz/Gilberto (Verve, 1964)?

Jazz belongs to everyone and to every language. French, Brazilian, British, and, of course American English too.

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