A few years back, Chris & I went to the Wainwright Family Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. The show included an assortment of performances by Rufus Wainwright and family members & friends. Rufus brought me to tears with his version of O Holy Night, en francais, Jimmie Fallon sang "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rufus' sister, and we heard the odd crooning of Antony. One vocalist stood out for both of us-- Kamila Thompson, the daughter of Linda & Richard Thompson (who I know from the song "Walkin' on a Wire"). Kamila covered George Michael's "Last Christmas" with the saddest sweetest voice. I can still hear the way she pronounced the words of the song. She has three songs posted for listening-only on her MySpace page, but she hasn't released a record, as far as I can tell. And sadly, there doesn't seem to be a way for me to get my hands on a copy of that breath-taking performance of "Last Christmas."
I'm realizing that what I love about her voice is that its a throw-back to a sultry cabaret sound. Lauren Bacall singing in "To Have and Have Not" or even Mae West (more mae west) comes to mind--singing in an underground club somewhere.
Another young woman that captures this throw-back sound is Zooey Deschanel (who may be my latest musical obsession). Coming home from seeing her sing the movie Elf in the theaters, Chris & I scrambled to find her music online --"Hello Dolly"--but struggled to find downloads. As it turns out, she has completed her first album (with M. Ward) and now there are lots of snippits of her on Youtube singing the new music in clubs ("Lonesome Town"). I've added a few things by Zooey in the jukebox (on the right hand side of the page). My favorite: Sentimental Heart. Enjoy.
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