Blue is the 10th album by Ontario singer Diana Panton. It is the end of a romantic trilogy in which the two previous albums also had a chromatic theme, Pink and Red. If I told you that Pink was about first loves and Red was about passionate love, you’d have guessed by now that Blue brings the listener in a bittersweet world of all sorts of broken relationships. The sound picture Panton invites us into is conventional and standard. It is classic jazz, both in the choice of pieces and in the arrangements, which feature a string quartet (the Penderecki, not bad!). You may wonder why I’m talking about it here on Pan M 360, a site used for music that shakes up established codes. It’s because, in my opinion, Diana Panton is one of the most fantastic interpreters of standards from the Great American Songbook in Canada. She uses her voice like a spell that you can’t resist. Without ever bellowing any note, and with an even gentleness that is also emotionally powerful, she touches and caresses the ear as well as the heart of the listener with remarkable effectiveness. What she allows us to feel is as natural as it is sincere, as seductive as it is intellectually satisfying. Too little-known, Diana Panton is a treasure trove of elegance that I will continue to support as much as possible for the simple journalist and music lover that I am. As far as I can remember, she never came to Quebec, which is quite simply tragic.
Diana Panton – Vocals, Producer
Phil Dwyer – Saxophone
Reg Schwager – Guitar
Don Thompson – Piano, Arranger
Jim Vivian – Bass
Penderecki String Quartet:
Jerzy Kapłanek – Violin
Jeremy Bell – Violin
Christine Vlajk – Viola
Katie Schlaikjer – Cello
Chad Irschick – Engineer
