Search - Kelly Harland :: Twelve Times Romance

After-Hours Jazz Vocal

groucho | Chapel Hill, NC, USA | 11/03/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kelly Harland is probably a jazz singer most people do not know. Which is a pity because she has this gift of bringing to life the after-hours feeling of jazz. Its like relaxing in your favorite dive or sipping your dry martini. Her voice is like a cozy reminder of a happy relationship. There is something down-home in her delivery, and she improvises and swings like no one. Just when your jazz vocal collection is brimming with a lot of obvious singers, try and get a hold of Kelly Harland. She may not be the love of your life, but she will make you remember the beauty of having your own love of your life."

Jazz at its most romantic

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kelly has had a long and varied career in music, working in pop, rock and jazz at various times. She has been session singer, jingles singer, member of rock band Lazy Racer and at one time got a recording deal with Epic records thanks to Charlie Daniels (the country rocker famous for Devil went down to Georgia) but the record company got into difficulties and Kelly was dropped when her album was nearing completion. Kelly has also tried songwriting and had some success - she co-wrote True love, the title track to one of Crystal Gayle's albums in the eighties. This song is, of course, very different from the more famous song of that title first recorded by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly.The old standards from the Great American Songbook were an early influence on Kelly and it was after she started singing these songs again that she finally recorded an album of her own that got a release in 1998. Simply titled American songs, it was made up of five songs from the pop/rock era and six from the Great American Songbook. There is only one pop/rock song on this follow-up album - The look of love, a Burt Bacharach- Hal David song that I always associate with Dusty Springfield, but which has been recorded by countless others including Diana Krall.Elsewhere on this album, you can hear Kelly's excellent versions of such classics as Comes love, You stepped out of a dream, Lover come back to me, Gone with the wind, Come rain or come shine and many others.Kelly is clearly a singer of the highest quality who has now found a way to get her music heard around the world. This romantic album is in the best traditions of Jeri Southern, Julie London, Peggy Lee and others from their era. Fans of those fine ladies - and fans of Diana Krall - should give this album a listen."