CD Review: Hillary Kole, "The Judy Garland Project"

Hillary Kole had an interruption of her recording career for a few years but is now recording and  singing better than ever.  As a vocalist,  she has a strong, clear sensitive voice and when combined with her astute understanding of lyrics puts her in the top class of female vocalists performing today.  The songs Hillary recorded in this new CD are classic Judy Garland signature songs that we all will remember.  However, as is true for most of the treasured songs out of the "Great American Songs Book",  Hillary has managed to breath new life into each of the 15 tracks on this CD, and has made these songs new again.

This CD was produced by Richard Barone, engineered by Lou Holtzman and Mastered by Roger Lian Mastering.  I am mentioning this group along with Hillary Kole because together they did a perfectly magnificent job producing this CD.  These guys are good!

The supporting cast of musicians on this CD are also as good as it gets!  Pianist John Martino, Bassist Paul Gill, and Drummer Aaron Kimmel, Sax Joel Frahm.  The Strings are beautiful and if Sinatra was still around, he would be chasing them to record with him.  Violinists, Christiana Liberis and Juliette Jones; Viola, Stephanie Matthews and Cello, Reenat Pinchas.

The music world is now a better place with Hillary Kole recording again!  Take a look at these wonderful songs she has recorded!

Hillary headlines at the Iridium Club in NYC on April 26 which would be a great show to attend if you are in the area.

               Playlist:
1. "Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart"
2. "The Boy Next Door"
3. "Just In Time"
4. "You Made Me Love You"
5. "Stomping' at the Savoy"
6. "The Man That Got Away"
7. "A Cottage For Sale"
8. "I Wish I Were In Love Again"
9. "Look For The Silver Lining"
10. "The Trolley Song"
11. "Get Happy"
12. "Embraceable You"
13. "As Long As He Needs Me"
14. "It Never Was You"
15. "Over The Rainbow"     

I have attached two "YouTube" videos for you to watch, and I know you will be blown away by both.  The first one is Hillary Kole singing "The Trolley Song" and the second one is the Arlen and Harburg gem "Over the Rainbow" written for the film "The Wizard of Oz".  I know we have all heard vocalists singing "Over The Rainbow" but for me, Hillary's performance of this song is so outstanding that I just had to share it with you.

Spotlight on Contemporary Outstanding Singers: Hilary Kole

Over the past few years, I have been involved in many conversations with friends who would remark that there are very few young singers performing today that compare with the great singers of the past.  I think my friends believe this because they have not been exposed to all the great young singers on the music scene today.  How do people find out about today's great singers?  This is one of the main reasons this blog was established, to shine a light on musicians from around the country who have exceptional talent.

I am introduced to a lot of great musicians by recommendations from friends, musicians and materials sent to me by music producers.  I would like to introduce them to you by starting a new series of postings to highlight musicians that come into my life that are simply terrific.  I hope some of these musicians become favorites of yours also.

My first musician spotlighted in this series is the multi-talented Singer/Arranger/Pianist Hilary Kole. Hilary has a wonderful musical resume and has performed in top New York City venues like Town Hall, Birdland, Blue Note, Tridium, 54 Below, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein and the The New Pops.  Her career was interrupted for over 2 years because of a dispute with her management company that stopped her from recording.  She won her release from her former contract in April 2013 and has since been rebuilding her musical direction.  She is currently working on a Judy Garland tribute album that should be terrific.  A friend forwarded a "YouTube" of Hilary singing "Over The Rainbow" that I thought was an example of Hilary's wonderful vocal work.  I wanted to share the "YouTube" with followers of my blog.