The singer and composer Isabella Hallia is from Montreal. She is currently releasing A Formal Introduction, a rather seductive introduction of eight tracks, three of which are original compositions. The young lady operates in the grand style of classic vocal jazz, in a piano/bass/drums quartet format. We are in familiar territory here, with iconic standards from the Great American Songbook, such as Sophisticated Lady, Comes Love, and I’m Glad There is You. The three original songs are perfectly integrated into the program, like stylistic chameleons. A Formal Introduction announces the rest with a childlike smoothness and a rather endearing form of self-irony. Turning the Page closely resembles the works of Jules Styne or Irving Berlin, with a contagious good mood that will do wonders for any heart in turmoil, then Love You More, another track steeped in spring-like lightness, benefits from a bouncy rhythm well supported by the artist’s accomplices.
Isabella Hallia demonstrates good vocal skills, whose studied character does not at all weigh down a very beautiful rhythmic ease and a pleasant embodiment of texts, to which she infuses a lot of naturalness. She possesses a captivating instrument, with a beautiful roundness in the lower register but above all a luminosity imbued with caresses in the higher notes. In short, she sings well.
Hallia takes the stage at Modavie in Old Montreal and at Magpie Magique, a speakeasy on Gilford Street.
Voice: Isabella Hallia
Piano: Anthony D’Alessandro
Bass: Mathieu McConnell-Enright
Drums: Baptiste Lejeune
