| Jazz |
If you’re a lover of classic jazz in its most timeless form, this album will feel like home. Don’t expect reinvention—expect excellence. What you’ll find is a luminous voice, perfectly poised, supported by world-class musicians who elevate each familiar melody into something quietly sublime. It’s an album made for the sheer pleasure of listening, where every note lands with grace and assurance, and the mood is unhurried, elegant, and unmistakably cool.
If at times the album evokes the polished charm of a musical theater production, it’s no coincidence. Nancy Kelly’s roots trace back to Rochester, New York, where she began studying piano at the age of four. From there, her path wound through clarinet, drama, and dance, before settling into her true artistic home: vocal performance. Trained at the prestigious Eastman School of Music, she has spent over five decades refining a style that blends swing and bop with fearless ease. Her voice; rich, agile, expressive; has taken her from intimate clubs in the U.S. to festival stages around the world, with performances in Singapore, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Jakarta.
It’s the kind of music that thrives in the soft light of a jazz club—where subtlety is an asset and nuance can shimmer. On May 1, 2022, she was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame (class of 2020), joining an illustrious circle that includes Chuck Mangione, Lew Soloff, Renée Fleming, Ron Carter, Steve Gadd, and Joe Locke.
Those credentials speak volumes, but so does the music. This album is a masterclass in style and control; a showcase for an artist whose technical command is matched by a deep reverence for the genre. And while its approach leans toward the traditional, there’s a quiet confidence in that choice. Here, tradition isn’t a boundary; it’s a canvas. And Nancy Kelly paints on it with clarity, warmth, and undeniable charm.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
Editor for All About Jazz
PARIS-MOVE, April 10th 2025
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