1999

Introducing Tierney Sutton

Tierney Sutton

Tierney Sutton has the kind of voice that you can take for granted. After just a couple of tunes, you know you can relax — she’s not going to clam a note, she’s not going to screech trying to reach beyond her range, her pitch is never questionable and she’s not going to show off. All substance, zero affectation; hard to believe in a debut album. That frees you up to sit back, close your eyes, and alternate between wonder at her pure technique and rapt enjoyment of her artistry.

Sutton’s debut album is a program of standards including “The Song Is You,” “My Heart Stood Still,” and “It Never Entered My Mind.” But even if you’ve heard all these songs a hundred times before, you’ll still love this album because Tierney sheds such a warm, sweet light on the songs that it’s a pleasure to hear them again. Sometimes she surprises, as on the voice/bass duet arrangements of “In Love in Vain” and “My Heart Stood Still,” which are two of this album’s many highlights, or with startling scat excursions where you don’t necessarily expect them. Other times she evokes Ella Fitzgerald at her peak, as on her rendition of “Caravan.” Simply put she never disappoints.