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Hometown: Key Biscayne, FL
Label: Out of Sight Music, Inc.
Management: Sylvia Bennett Entertainment
Website: www.sylviabennett.com
Sounds Like: Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, Celine Dion
Genre: Jazz
Grammy nominated Sylvia Bennett, the timeless smooth jazz and pop vocalist sings of love with a warmth, clarity and spirit that is enveloping and tender, showcasing the depth of her skill, talent and experience. She's sung with Lionel Hampton and she's sung for presidents - all with a singular style and intimacy that is hers and hers alone.
“Man, the lady can sing! Her magic gets to the ears and the hearts of the audience.”
- Lionel Hampton
Cole Porter once asked, “What Is This Thing Called Love,” and it's a question that many of our greatest artists have grappled with ever since - creating some of America's most enduring and timeless music in the process. Now, it's Sylvia Bennett's turn. On her new album, Songs From The Heart featuring the Three Tenors - Boots Randolph, Ed Calle and Kirk Whalum, the smooth jazz and pop vocalist sings of the vicissitudes of love with a warmth, clarity and spirit that is enveloping and tender, showcasing the depth of her skill, talent and experience.
The Italian born and American raised Bennett is a singer's singer, having sung on TV, in community theater, club dates, conventions and even the inaugurations of presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Walking in the footsteps of her idols such as Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Barry Manilow and Bette Midler, Sylvia has opened for artists as diverse as Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Jackie Mason, Dizzy Gillespie, Barry Gibb and David Brenner.
Her big break came in the 1980's, when legendary vibraphonist (and National Arts Award Winner) Lionel Hampton took Sylvia under his wing and made her the first female singer to record with him in thirty years. She recounts, “Lionel validated me as a performer and inspired me to be the best singer I can be. He made me realize that the audience was the most important thing and that all I needed to do was to sing from the heart and be honest.” Sylvia worked with Hampton for ten years, touring and recording two albums together. The first, Sentimental Journey, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1987. The second project, There Will Never Be Another You, was a CD/DVD tribute to “Hamp” from Sylvia, and she furthered the honor to her mentor with the show, “The Lady and the Legend,” premiering in Miami in 2007.
Songs From The Heart featuring the Three Tenors emerged in the wake of Sylvia's tribute to Hampton, when her producer, two-time Grammy nominee and two-time ASCAP Award winner, Hal Batt, suggested that she record timeless love songs and standards, backed by a small band to convey the desired intimacy. Sylvia was enamored of the idea immediately. “I'm a hopeless romantic,” she says unhesitatingly, “I think that love is what life is all about - wanting it, having it, losing it and having it again.” The songs, classics from the great American songbook, were chosen for how they related to the experience of love, making it a concept album, akin in spirit to Frank Sinatra's great concept albums of the mid-1950's.
The album really took off when Sylvia was joined on the recording by tenor saxophone legends, Boots Randolph, Ed Calle and Kirk Whalum. The tenors enhance the album's smoky and organic vibe, complementing Sylvia's silky smooth voice. “It was a thrill to have those incredible players on the album,” enthuses Sylvia. “The only song they played on together was "Since I Fell For You," and it was pure magic.” Producer Batt declares, “We captured a moment in time that won't happen again between three of the greatest tenor sax players in the world.”
Sylvia's exquisite taste shines in the selection and performance of the material. From “My Funny Valentine,” (“It sums up everything about love to me") to “They Can't Take That Away From Me,” (“Nothing and no one can take away the time you have with someone”) to "How Long Has This Been Going On," (“I first sang that song in junior high - but now I really know what that song is about”), Sylvia utilizes her phenomenal ability to get inside these classic songs and have them reveal emotional dimensions previously unfamiliar.
Sylvia is eager to perform these songs in her natural environment - in front of a live audience. “I'll be doing romance themed nights, performing the album as well as the material I did with Lionel Hampton,” she says. It's clear that she's immensely proud of Songs From The Heart featuring the Three Tenors and that she knows she touched on something. Sylvia concludes, “We live in such a technological world today that I think we forgot about touching people. I think we all need a hug, we need to be embraced - we're living in a troubled world. There's nothing better than romance and being with someone who can shelter you from those storms.”
“The timbre of flatware against porcelain has slowed to a random beat; the whoosh of wine against glass continues with coffee against the cup. The dynamics of table talk have dropped to sotto voce, played out as a little dinner music. Until the lights drop and a woman rises among the diners, casting them something akin to a "look of love," she begins to sing...
”
Lisa Crawford Watson - Monterey Herald
“The Great American Songbook is full of love songs that have stood the test of time through countless interpretations by the greatest singers in the world. In searching for new ways to recast such standards—without serving up the same old tunes in the same worn out fashion—Sylvia Bennett takes her turn at voicing many of these familiar songs and, with Smile, breathing new life into a dozen oft-recorded standards. To distinguish the album from other similar recordings, Bennett and longtime producer/guitarist Hal S. Batt, forgo the...”
Edward Blanco - All About Jazz
“It is amazing how versatile the Great American Songbook has become - and, of course, how much of an important resource for jazz vocalists and musicians it has become. That is the case with vocalist Sylvia Bennett - she has selected fourteen popular songs, many famous from usage in movies and musicals, and given them a Latin feel to update them.”
John M. Peters - The Borderland
"Smile," "Make Someone Happy," "The Very Thought of You" and "I'll Be Seeing You" are also on Sylvia Bennett's CD, but the approaches are rather different. Sylvia tends to be oh-so-mellow, unruffled, low-key and calm, gliding across the melodies, phrasing evenly. The emphasis on rhythms, like the bossa nova, essayed this time out is a good idea. Acting a song or delving deeply is not her modus operandi. So, the focus and raison d'être is not the words or drama. She—and maybe we—can be content with the broad strokes of setting an overall mood and then enjoying the breeze of Brazil or seductively subtle swing and sway, with a bravo to Richard Bravo, percussionist. Her producer of a quarter of a century, Hal S. Batt, is in charge once again, contributing many tasty guitar accents...
Rob Lester - Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice
“It’s Christmastime with Sylvia Bennett offers a fresh new look at classic holiday nuggets such as; “Silver Bells,” … However, the wonderful spice in this holiday brew is the original Christmas songs destined to be the next Christmas classics.”
Jeff Becker - Jazz Sensibilities
“I must admit that there is a smooth, silky vocal at work on “It’s Christmas Time with Sylvia Bennett.” Blending classics with originals, Bennett offers a beautiful voice to the performances of songs. …this might just be what you were looking for in the adult contemporary holiday line.”
J. EDWARD SUMERAU - Metro Spirit
“Traditional with a twist, Sylvia Bennett’s “It’s Christmas Time” is a holiday offering with a lot of appeal. …This is a great mix of both classic tunes – and a couple that may well become classics. Highly recommended.”
dwboynton - Girl Singers
“The holidays are just a heartbeat away at this point… for some a source of frustration but for most a delightful thought! Here’s something for all of the above… IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME WITH SYLVIA BENNETT… Sylvia shines on the classic Christmas carols, favorites for sure”
Sandy Shore - SmoothJazz.com
“The best comment that one could make regarding Sylvia Bennett's Songs From The Heart is that the singer's presentation of a dozen pretty well-worn tunes from The Great American Songbook is pretty good. Her bright and well-enunciated versions of such time-respected fare as...”
Michael P. Gladstone - All About Jazz
“Standards are still the bread and butter of jazz. Whether from Tin Pan Alley's American songbook or specifically composed as jazz and assimilated into the jazz repertoire...”
C. Michael Bailey - All About Jazz
“Not many singers can claim a career that not only includes singing with Lionel Hampton but also recording with the three tenors, Sylvia Bennett has done just that — but there's a catch.”
Big Geez - Blog Critics Magazine
“Have you ever listened to a song and relived a moment? When you listen to a good vocalist singing standards, it helps us to not only recall, but relive those special moments. Jazz vocalist, Sylvia Bennett’s”
Joe Montague - Riveting Riffs
“A special recording from one very special lady, “Songs From The Heart” is not just another jazz vocals album, it is a ground-breaking project boasting a cast of Grammy-nominated artists including a star-studded tenor threesome...”
Edward Blanco - Ejazz News
“Jazz vocalist Sylvia Bennett............A totally interesting chanteuse with a propensity to use less vibrato in her vocal style............ Quite impressively I might add............Thus adding to the mystique of her fine instrument.”
George W. Carroll - Cabaret Exchange
“Meet Sylvia Bennett : People have tried to compare Sylvia Bennett's voice to other great singers of the past and present. But perhaps...”
All About Jazz
“Who do you consider to be the role model who has been the most inspirational to you as a vocalist?
Lionel Hampton taught me to sing from my heart. He told me not to be afraid to bare...”
Smooth Indie Star
“Technically, this is a Lionel Hampton recording, his last before his death in 2002. But it is the presence of Sylvia Bennett that lands it in this bundle.”
C. Michael Bailey - All About Jazz
“Big band instruments are the order of the day on Lionel Hampton featuring Sylvia Bennett’s “There Will Never Be Another You.” “Just One Of Those Things” has an old-time panache. The title track introduces Sylvia Bennett’s praiseworthy voice and xylophone work.”
TheCelebrityCafe.com
“To state the case as clearly as possible, the album is a sheer delight. Hamp plays marvelously in front of a large ensemble comprised of south Florida’s finest sidemen, and Bennett weighs in with charming vocals on seven tracks...”
jack Bowers - All About Jazz
“This album has a companion DVD featuring Hamp and the big band with
Bennett vocalizing magnificently. This recording is a gem as well as
having monumental historical signifigance.
Recorded in 1989 and released in 2006, the music is as current as
current can be.”
John Gilbert - eJazz News
“Out Of Sight Music presents ' There Will Never Be Another You', an historical, never-released CD/DVD set by Lionel Hampton featuring Sylvia Bennett. Lionel Hampton was one of the great masters of American music, a true national treasure, reinventing ...”
Jazz News
