| Jazz |
Summary : Jennifer Roberts’ upcoming album I’ll Be Around pairs her expressive voice with pianist Tedd Firth in an intimate exploration of classic songs, interpretation, and musical storytelling.
Jennifer Roberts’ I’ll Be Around: Voice, Piano, and the Art of Interpretation
The beginning of this week brings me to two artists who occupy a very special place in my musical world. Jennifer Roberts comes first, while Lisa Rich will be the subject of another column. I am starting with Jennifer because there is something about her current work that deserves our attention, most notably the arrival of her new album, I’ll Be Around, in October. What immediately caught my attention was the artistic choice behind the project: a formation reduced to its essentials, voice and piano. On the surface, nothing could seem simpler. In reality, it may be one of the most demanding settings a singer can choose. Once the scenery disappears, once the arrangements and orchestra are no longer there to support, or sometimes conceal, imperfections, what remains is the voice, the words, the breath, and the ability to tell a story.
This is precisely where Jennifer Roberts seems most at ease. For the piano, she has chosen Tedd Firth, a musician whose presence becomes all the more important in such an intimate setting. There are pianists who can demonstrate remarkable technique, and there are pianists who truly know how to accompany a voice. The two qualities do not always come together. Tedd Firth has that rare combination of instrumental command and a finely tuned sense of nuance that allows him to understand something essential: the best accompaniment is not necessarily the accompaniment we notice most. His role is also to let the singer breathe, to create space around her, and to know when the piano should speak and when it should simply listen.
That was the perspective with which I began listening to I’ll Be Around, just as the first rays of sunlight were beginning to appear. The repertoire immediately caught my attention because Jennifer Roberts takes on songs that have already been interpreted by countless artists over the decades. With such a musical legacy, there are two obvious risks: reproducing a familiar version or going out of one’s way to prove that one can do something completely different. Jennifer seems interested in neither. She is not trying to imitate another singer, and she certainly does not feel the need to turn every song into a vocal showcase.
That restraint is especially striking because Jennifer Roberts possesses a voice that could easily tempt an artist toward performance for performance’s sake. Her career has allowed her to move between several musical worlds, from classical repertoire to jazz, musical theater and other forms of song. Such versatility can become a trap. The temptation is always there to show everything one can do. With Jennifer, the technique remains present without becoming the subject. What matters is what she can make us feel through it. Her experience as an actress seems to bring another dimension to the music. Jennifer never sings as though the lyrics were merely a vehicle for a beautiful melodic line. She appears to look behind each song for a situation, a character, an emotion, a story. That theatrical dimension becomes particularly compelling on an album where the voice is constantly exposed, because every nuance becomes audible. A word held back for just a moment, a breath, a change of inflection, even a silence can completely alter the way we receive a phrase.
The repertoire she has chosen gives her room to explore that freedom. Jennifer Roberts moves through musical worlds associated with composers and songwriters as different as Burt Bacharach, George Gershwin and Carole King, yet she never gives the impression of trying to assemble some kind of historical survey. She sings songs that speak to her. That may sound simple, but to me it is fundamental. A singer brings something personal to a song simply by deciding how to inhabit it, where to place the emphasis, when to hold back and when to let a phrase open up. Jennifer seems particularly instinctive in that regard. She takes an existing work, absorbs it, passes it through her own imagination, and gives it back to us with enough personality that, after a few listens, we can almost feel as though the song belongs to her. Of course, that is an illusion. But it is also one of the pleasures of hearing a familiar song through a distinctive voice. The original remains intact while our relationship with it changes. Jennifer also has that rather rare ability to have fun with music while taking it completely seriously. She circles around a theme, plays with an intention, allows a phrase to move in an unexpected direction, and then returns with remarkable precision to what matters. The apparent ease should not fool the listener. Making music sound natural usually requires an exceptionally deep understanding of one’s instrument and one’s material. Lightness is not the opposite of work here. It is often the result of it.
That is what makes the album such a pleasure to spend time with. We never feel that Jennifer Roberts needs to remind us that we are listening to a great singer. She does not need to tell us, and her interpretations do not rely on a constant accumulation of effects to make their point. She sounds as though she genuinely enjoys singing these songs, and that pleasure eventually becomes the listener’s. There is a smile that seems to remain somewhere in the music, not because every song is light or cheerful, but because there is a genuine desire to share something.
That relationship between pleasure and discipline is probably one of the things that touches me most about this album. It is becoming increasingly rare to encounter artists who can approach music with such precision while still giving the impression that they are genuinely enjoying themselves. The technique gives Jennifer freedom rather than becoming the focus. She seems to have reached that particular place where mastery of the craft allows spontaneity to return. Tedd Firth is essential to that feeling. A piano-and-voice duo can only work when the two musicians have developed a deep sense of trust. The pianist must know how to listen as much as accompany, anticipate without imposing, support without covering. The singer, in turn, must be able to change an intention, slow a phrase or shift a dynamic, knowing that her partner will respond immediately. In a larger ensemble, some of these details can disappear into the overall sound. Here, they become part of the music itself.
That is probably why the connection between Jennifer Roberts and Tedd Firth becomes apparent so quickly. The piano is never simply providing harmonic support, just as the voice never treats the piano as a backdrop. The two instruments answer one another. There are moments when we listen closely to Jennifer, and others when we suddenly find ourselves listening to what Tedd Firth is doing between her phrases. That constant exchange gives the album its particular sense of breath.
It also asks something of the listener. This is not music necessarily designed for an immediate reaction. It asks us to listen to the details, to return to the songs, and to discover gradually what lies beneath the surface. In that sense, it stands almost in opposition to a portion of contemporary music production, much of which is built to capture attention instantly. Here, the richness comes with time and repetition. After several listens, I found myself wanting something very specific: to see Jennifer Roberts and Tedd Firth on a small stage, in a club where the distance between the musicians and the audience had been reduced to almost nothing. A piano, a voice, a few tables, a room small enough that you could almost hear the breaths between phrases. That would probably be the ideal setting in which to understand fully what this duo can do, because there is always a difference between what we hear on a recording and what happens when an artist takes possession of a stage. That kind of proximity is not incidental. It belongs to a tradition in American music that has always given an important place to small rooms, clubs and venues where the performer can truly engage with an audience. In such a space, the voice no longer has to fight distance. Nuance takes on another importance, silences become audible, and the smallest change in interpretation can alter the atmosphere of the room. For a duo like this, intimacy could become a genuine musical strength.
That is also why I sincerely hope to see Jennifer Roberts and Tedd Firth make their way to Texas one day. For me, it would be the perfect opportunity to experience these two artists onstage and to extend this listening experience into a proper report. A recording allows us to discover a musical world, but the stage allows us to understand how that world is created in front of us. In Jennifer Roberts’ case, with her background also rooted in theater and performance, that stage dimension feels particularly important. It would be too limiting to think of I’ll Be Around simply as an album of covers. Jennifer is not trying to erase the interpretations that came before her, nor is she claiming to reinvent every song she sings. She approaches these songs through her own history, experience and sensibility, and then gives them back to us slightly changed. The transformation may be subtle, but it is enough to renew the way we hear them.
Perhaps that is where the real value of an interpreter lies. A composer writes a song, but from that moment on, the song continues its life through the people who sing it. Every new voice adds something to its history. Some interpretations disappear quickly; others become attached to a particular era or personality. The most interesting ones may be those that allow us to hear a song differently even when we thought we already knew it. Jennifer Roberts has that ability. She does not seem interested in becoming the owner of the repertoire she interprets. She seems more interested in becoming another voice capable of carrying it forward. To me, that feels particularly meaningful at a time when novelty is sometimes confused with creation. You do not have to write a song to give it new life. Sometimes you simply have to listen to it before you sing it, understand what it contains, what it still has to say today, and what you can bring to it without changing its essential character. I’ll Be Around seems to belong to that category of projects that draw from the past without ever becoming trapped there. Jennifer Roberts looks toward songs that have traveled across generations, but she approaches them in her own language. Tedd Firth’s piano gives her the freedom to maintain that openness, allowing each song enough room to breathe.
The more I listen to this album, the more I return to the idea of simplicity. The word may seem strange when describing a project that demands so much mastery, but that paradox is precisely what interests me. True simplicity is never the absence of work. It is often what remains visible once the work has been extensive enough to disappear. A voice, a piano, a song, and two artists who trust one another can be enough to create a complete world. Jennifer Roberts has the ability to do a great deal with very little. She can move from one nuance to another without seeming to reach for an effect. She can draw on her theatrical experience without turning every song into a musical-theater scene. She can let her vocal technique emerge without allowing it to overshadow the emotion. And, above all, she can give songs we already know that precious feeling that we are hearing them for the first time.
That is ultimately what I will take away from this first listen, and from the listens that followed. I’ll Be Around is not simply an album we hear; it is an album we spend time with. We return to it, encounter certain songs again, discover others, and gradually the partnership between Jennifer Roberts and Tedd Firth becomes familiar. There is something deeply human in this way of making music, something that reminds us that a song can still be a conversation between three elements: the person who writes it, the person who interprets it, and the person who listens. Until October arrives, I will continue listening to Jennifer Roberts with the curiosity of discovering just how far this partnership with Tedd Firth can go. The album will give us a first answer, but what I really hope for is the stage that comes afterward. Once you have heard this music in the intimacy of listening, it becomes difficult not to want to discover what happens when these two artists stand before an audience with nothing but a piano, a voice, and the sense of connection that seems to sit at the heart of the project.
For now, we simply have to wait until October. And ultimately, that is already good news: Jennifer Roberts will return with an album built around an idea that is both simple and demanding. In a musical landscape often dominated by accumulation, I’ll Be Around seems to remind us that sometimes all you need is a great voice, an exceptional pianist, and a handful of songs capable of crossing time to create something that is genuinely worth listening to.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, September 21st, 2026
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To buy this album (October 2026)
Musicians :
Jennifer Roberts, vocals
Tedd Firth, piano
Track Listing :
Alfie
Nice Work If You Can Get It
So Many People
Love Walked In
I’ll Get By, Count your Bless
That’s How Much I’ve Missed
I’ll Be Around
A Child Is Born
Waltz for Debby
I Like You, Your Nice
You’ve Got A Friend
I Remember You
Danny Boy
Some Other Time
Save The Best For Last
Jennifer Roberts – Executive producer
Tedd Firth – Musical Director, arranger and Pianist
Sean Swinney – Mixing and Mastering – Recording in NYC
Frank Dain – Art Direction and Cover
Kevin Alvey and Mariann Lopinto – Photos
Matt Flora – Hair Stylist