'Dream Dancing' by Melissa Stylianou
Listening to Dream Dancing stirs up a dreamy image of Manhattan jazz clubgoers gathered around candlelit tables, with the soft clatter of glassware from the distant bar and the hum of conversation from the back of the room—yet with all eyes fastened on the singer in a little black dress.
On Dream Dancing, Canadian born, New York singer Melissa Stylianou delivers classic jazz repertoire with quiet exuberance and empathy against the lithe backdrop provided by upright bassist Ike Sturm and acoustic guitarist Gene Bertoncini. She steps back from the mic on “My Ideal” and “Sweet Lovely,” as her accompanists venture into solos that complement, rather than clutter, the material and her performance. Her takes on Carlos Jobim are as beautifully sultry as Rio in the ‘60s. The album’s lone original is Bertoncini’s “For Chet,” a wordlessly vocalized tribute to his longtime band leader, the cool trumpeter Chet Baker.
