Anne Bisson

We may have missed her at the last Montreal Jazz Festival, but it’s never too late to get to discover Anne Bisson. For her second album, this pianist, songwriter and singer brilliantly takes up the challenge with a rich and, it must be mentioned, clever selection of well-known songs, deeply personal compositions and Pop standards that have withstood the test of time. Never straying far from the Jazz idiom, which might possibly be the secret to her success, she starts off by offering us a nearly a cappella version of Pink Floyd’s Us and Them. She then revisits Spinning Wheels, With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles), In the Wee Small Hours, with its superb trumpet solo from Ron Di Lauro, and other selections. On the whole, Portraits and Perfumes, produced by keyboardist Guy St-Onge, is a bright new album that one can listen to from morning till night. Bravo!