This is the début recording from Yorkshire born vocalist Sarah Mitchell, a young singer who has been championed by Michael Parkinson among others. Mitchell studied music at colleges in both Liverpool and Leeds and her accompanists on this recording include musicians from the burgeoning Leeds scene.

Mitchell works with a core band of Jason Scott (piano and keyboards), Adrian Knowles (acoustic and electric bass) and Tim Brickel (drums). Intermittent guest appearances come from guitarist Jamie Taylor, trumpeter Simon Bedo and tenor saxophonist Simon Kaylor. Bedo and Taylor recently appeared on the excellent album “Eye Of The Duck” as part of bassist Dave Kane’s Rabbit Project group. They find themselves in very different territory here.

“You Give Me Something” covers the familiar range of jazz standards and originals with a Stevie Wonder tune thrown in for good measure. However Mitchell’s assured vocal performance lifts the record above the normal level for this kind of fare. She has a powerful voice that embraces jazz, soul and pop influences and the imaginative arrangements (by Mitchell and pianist Scott) add a fresh twist to some familiar material. The originals hold up well in the context of the album and whilst I prefer my jazz to be a bit more “cutting edge” there can be no doubting that this is a very classy record.

The album commences with a slowed down version of “My Favourite Things” that makes good use of Bedo’s trumpet. The arrangement is paced by Scott’s careful and exact piano which contrasts well with Mitchell’s soulful vocal.

“Oh What A Beautiful Morning” from “Oklahoma!” is also given the slowed down treatment, this time with a strong gospel element plus a burst of scat vocals. As elsewhere it’s a striking and distinctive interpretation.

The title track is the first Mitchell original and the overall style and feel is in keeping with the rest of the record. Essentially a love song the lyrics reference contemporary culture but are not particularly profound. Like much of Mitchell’s writing the song is competent and perfectly acceptable, here with a light pop sheen to go with the jazz and soul influences.

Michel Legrand’s is a tender, pared down version played at a slow tempo. The trio give immaculate support with Knowle’s low register bass purr and Brickel’s delicate brush work right on the money. The trio don’t really feature extensively as soloists, this is very much the singer’s album, but their tasteful and sympathetic support is crucial to the record’s success. Everything they play is apposite to the situation in hand.

  Having said that Scott does get to feature on the next item “Shall We Dance”, the tune taken at a mid tempo swing with Mitchell showing a real talent for jazz phrasing as she sits just behind the beat.

“I Love To Watch” is a breezy, playful original by Mitchell, Brickel and Scott in which the instrumentalists enjoy a few brief breaks. Singer and band sound as if they’re having great fun on this one.

Mitchell’s “Now’s The Time” is probably the best original tune on the album, a soulful neo ballad delivered at medium tempo. A strong melody and Mitchell’s assured vocal make for a memorable performance with pianist Scott taking the instrumental honours.

The beautiful vocal/piano duet on Stevie Wonder’s “I Can Only Be Me” is another of the album’s highlights and contrasts well with the band’s high speed romp through Rodgers & Hart’s “This Can’t Be Love” complete with scat vocals and swinging instrumental breaks.

Two more Mitchell originals follow; “A New Kind Of Me” marks a return to pop/soul ballad territory and is rather slight despite being enlivened by the horns of Bedo and Kaylor. “They Had It All” covers similar terrain with Jamie Taylor’s guitar prominent in the arrangement.

The album ends with Mitchell’s take on the Cole Porter classic “Just One Of Those Things”. The quiet opening section brings out the cleverness and sophistication of Porter’s lyrics before the band kick in to take the album storming out with drummer Brickel very much to the fore.

“You Give Me Something” reveals Mitchell to be a highly competent singer, comfortable handling jazz, soul and pop. She’s backed by a highly sympathetic band and there’s no doubt the album is a classy, well crafted piece of work. It’s a cut above many other offerings in this field and Mitchell displays enough jazz chops to appeal to the purists. The imaginative arrangements suggest much potential for the future and her own song writing will doubtless improve with experience. The album comes with a lavishly photographed booklet-Mitchell has the looks as well as the voice-and it would seem that in jazz terms Candid are really getting behind their new protege. 

It’s not really my kind of jazz but in a highly competitive field Sarah Mitchell is quite clearly a name to watch.

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