Stacey Kent in Bâle

Nominated for a Grammy back in 2009 for her album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram, Stacey Kent is a prolific singer in both French and English. Throughout her long career she has been skirting between different forms of jazz and, more recently, bossa nova, a move that gave her the opportunity to tour and record with the legendary Marcos Valle. She is also well known for working with poets and writers in the composition process, seeking their expertize for lyrics that she then interprets through the prism of her voice. A long-standing collaborator (and a writer of her liner notes) is Kazuo Ishiguro, the much-loved British novelist of Japanese origin known for works such as Remains of the Day, Time and Never Let Me Go. 

Here, at the Baloise Session – a mythical Swiss festival that has played host to names such as Fats Domino, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Buddy Guy – she delivers songs in English, French and Portuguese, notably in covering the famous bossa nova track "Águas de Março," a song she received international acclaim with for her French version, written by Georges Moustaki, "Les eaux de Mars." Supported by a brilliant acoustic ensemble, she is as impressive as ever, able to wield effortless and supreme beauty and delicacy with her famous vocals.