Stacey Kent (born March 27, 1965) is an American jazz singer from South Orange,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Kent was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Award and was awarded the Chevalier de l'

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture in 2009. She is married to saxophonist and composer Jim Tomlinson, who produces Kent's albums and writes songs for her with his lyricist partner, novelist

Kazuo Ishiguro is a Japanese-born English novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. He is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary fiction authors writing in English, having been awarded several major literary prizes, including the 2 ...

Early life and education

Kent was born in South Orange, New Jersey. Her paternal grandfather was Russian and grew up in France. After graduating from

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

, she traveled to England to study music at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

in London, where she met saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, whom she married on August 9, 1991. Kent also attended

Middlebury College Language Schools The Middlebury Language Schools are language schools administered by Middlebury College. Immersion and graduate programs are offered in 13 languages during two-, six-, seven-, or eight-week summer sessions. The schools enroll approximately 1,500 ...

in Middlebury, VT for 8 summers, enrolled in the Italian, German, Portuguese and French programs.

Career

Kent began her professional career in the 1990s, singing at Café Bohème in London's

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. After two or three years, she began opening for established acts at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. In 1995, she appeared in

Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing i ...

's film ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (starring

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

), singing "

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" (1599), by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral poem from the English Renaissance (1485–1603). Marlowe composed the poem in iambic tetrameter (four feet of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed ...

" (Come Live with Me and Be My Love) with lyrics by

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

and composed by Trevor Jones, at the Grand Ball celebrating the Yorkist triumph in the Wars of the Roses. Her first album, '' Close Your Eyes'', was released in 1997. Novelist

wrote the liner notes to Kent's 2002 album, ''In Love Again''. Ishiguro met Kent after he chose her recording of " They Can't Take That Away from Me" as one of his ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in 2002. In 2006, Tomlinson and Ishiguro began to write songs for her. Ishiguro has said of his lyric writing that "with an intimate, confiding, first-person song, the meaning must not be self-sufficient on the page. It has to be oblique, sometimes you have to read between the lines" and that this realization has had an "enormous influence" on his fiction writing. In March, 2024, Ishiguro published a book entitled '' The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain: lyrics for Stacey Kent'', containing 16 of his lyrics for Kent, with illustrations by Italian-French artist, Bianca Bagnarelli, (

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

). Tomlinson and Ishiguro co-wrote four songs on the album '' Breakfast on the Morning Tram''. The first of their songs, "The Ice Hotel", won first prize in the International Songwriting Competition in April 2008. Kent recorded several more Tomlinson/Ishiguro songs on '' Dreamer In Concert'', '' The Changing Lights'', and '' I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions''. Tomlinson and Ishiguro subsequently wrote songs for her albums ''Dreamer'', ''The Changing Lights'' and ''I Know I Dream,'' and continue to write for her.

Popular success

Kent's album ''The Boy Next Door'' achieved Gold album status in France in September 2006. ''Breakfast on the Morning Tram'' (2007) achieved

Platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status in France in November 2007 and Double Gold status in Germany in February 2008. '' Raconte-moi...'' was recorded in French and achieved Gold status in both France and Germany and became the second best selling French-language album worldwide in 2010. '' Dreamer In Concert'' (2011) was recorded in May, 2011 at La Cigale in Paris. It includes three songs previously unrecorded by Kent: " Waters of March" by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

, "Postcard Lovers" by Jim Tomlinson with lyrics by

, and "O Comboio" by Portuguese poet António Ladeira. In 2013, Kent released '' The Changing Lights'', a Brazilian-tinged album, covering bossa nova classics such as Jobim's " How Insensitive" and again collaborating with Tomlinson and Ishiguro. In 2014, she left

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and signed with

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

. Sony released '' Tenderly'', an album of standards with Roberto Menescal, one of the founders of bossa nova. She met Menescal in Brazil in 2011 at the 80th birthday celebration of the '' Christ the Redeemer'' statue. They discovered they were fans of each other's work and collaborated on an album of standards inspired by Menescal's admiration for the duo of

Julie London Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...

and Barney Kessel. In 2014,

Marcos Valle Marcos Kostenbader Valle (born 14 September 1943) is a Brazilian singer, musician, and songwriter. He has produced works in many musical styles, including bossa nova, samba, and fusions of rock, soul, jazz, and dance music with Brazilian styles. ...

invited her to tour in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his career. They recorded the album ''Ao Vivo'' and a DVD that was recorded live at the Birdland club in New York City and the Blue Note in Tokyo. In 2017, Kent recorded her next album for Sony, '' I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions'', her first album with an orchestra, comprising 58 musicians with arrangements by Tommy Laurence, with music from the Great American Songbook, French chansons, songs by Edu Lobo, Jobim, Tomlinson, Ishiguro, Ladeira and his songwriting partner, Cliff Goldmacher from Nashville. Tomlinson and Goldmacher wrote the title song. In 2020, Kent released a series of singles and EPs, including "Christmas in the Rockies", "Three Little Birds", "Lovely Day", "Landslide", "I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again", "Bonita" and "Craigie Burn" as a duet with her longtime pianist Art Hirahara. Several of these singles become part of an album released in October 2021, "Songs From Other Places", for which Kent won Best Vocal Performance at the Jazz Music Awards in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2022. Kent has sold more than 2 million albums worldwide, with more than a half billion streams.

Awards and honors

* British Jazz Award, 2001 * BBC Jazz Award, Best Vocalist, 2002 * Backstage Bistro Award, 2004 * BBC Jazz Award, Album of the Year, '' The Lyric'', 2006 * Grammy Award nomination, Best Vocal Jazz Album, '' Breakfast on the Morning Tram'', 2009 * Chevalier dans l'

, 2009 * Jazz Japan Award for 'Best Vocal Album', I Know I Dream, 2018 * Winner of 'Best Vocal Performance' at the Jazz Music Awards for Songs From Other Places, 2022 * Winner of 'Prix Ella Fitzgerald' at the

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival international de Jazz de Montréal is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 ar ...

, 2023 * Award "La Granada del Festival de Jazz”, Granada International Jazz Festival, 2023

Discography

* ''Stacey Kent Sings'' (July 1995, possible demo recording) * '' Close Your Eyes'' (Candid, 1997) * '' Love Is...The Tender Trap'' (Candid, 1998) * '' Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire'' (Candid, 1999) * '' Dreamsville'' (Candid, 2000) * '' In Love Again: The Music of Richard Rodgers'' (Candid, 2002) * '' The Boy Next Door'' (Candid, 2003) * '' The Lyric'', Stacey Kent with Jim Tomlinson (Token, 2006) * '' Breakfast on the Morning Tram'' (EMI/Blue Note, 2007) * '' Raconte-moi...'' (EMI/Blue Note, 2010) * '' Dreamer In Concert'' (EMI/Blue Note, 2011) * '' The Changing Lights'' (EMI/Blue Note/Warner, 2013) * ''Tenderly'' (Sony/Okeh, 2015) * ''I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions'' (Sony/Okeh, 2017) * ''Christmas in the Rockies'' (Candid/Token, 2020) ''2020)'' * ''Songs from Other Places'' (Believe/Candid/Token, 2021), * ''Summer Me, Winter Me'' (Naïve Records, 2023)

Singles

* ''Three Little Birds'' (Single, Exceleration/Token 2020) * ''Lovely Day'' (Single, Exceleration/Token 2021) * ''I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again'' (Single, from "Songs From Other Places" series. Exceleration/Token 2021) * ''Landslide'' (Single, from "Songs From Other Places" series. Exceleration/Token 2021) * ''Bonita'' (Single, from "Songs From Other Places" series. Exceleration/Token 2021) * ''Craigie Burn'' (Single, from "Songs From Other Places" series. Exceleration/Token 2021) * '' American Tune'' (Single, from "Songs From Other Places" series. Exceleration/Token 2021)

As featured vocalist

* ''Eau Calme'' with enzo enzo (2020) - 1 song * ''Frenchy'' with Thomas Dutronc (Sony, 2019) - 1 song * ''Danilo Caymmi Canta Jobim'' with Danilo Caymmi (Sony, 2013) - 1 song * ''Ao Vivo'' DVD with

(Sony, 2015) - full DVD * ''Ao Vivo'' with

(Sony, 2013) - full album * ''Brazil'' with Quatuor Ébène, Bernard Lavilliers (Erato/Warner, 2014) - 6 songs * ''Fiction'' with Quatuor Ébène, (Erato/Warner, 2012) - 1 song * ''Jan Lundgren Trio Plays the Music of Victor Young'' with Jan Lundgren Trio, (Sittel, 2001) - 3 songs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Stacey 1965 births Living people Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama American expatriates in the United Kingdom American women jazz singers American jazz singers American people of Russian descent American radio personalities BBC Radio 3 presenters Blue Note Records artists Candid Records artists Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Singers from New York (state) People from South Orange, New Jersey Newark Academy alumni Sarah Lawrence College alumni American women radio hosts 21st-century American women Okeh Records artists