I'll Take Romance
Ken Slavin
© Copyright-Ken Slavin
(750532057729)
Record Label: Ken Slavin
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Ken Slavin is a popular and seasoned jazz crooner, equally at home in intimate jazz clubs, piano bars, concert halls and country clubs. He is one of the most respected entertainers in Texas with a vast repertoire of classic jazz, pop and Spanish-language standards. He has a gift for touching the hearts and souls of listeners of all ages with a smooth, intimate and emotive baritone voice - and total belief in the lyrics and feeling of each song he sings.
"I'll Take Romance" is his latest release, featuring world-class jazz musicians, symphonic arrangements and other polished touches. It is the kind of album you will want to listen to with a special someone -- and share with friends and family.
It has received excellent notices around the country and is on radio play lists in Texas, New York, Italy, France, Poland and the Philippines.
Voted “Best Vocalist” and "Best Musician" multiple times by by readers of The San Antonio Current, Slavin started late in the music business, not stepping on the stage to pursue his lifelong dream until shortly before his 29th birthday.
He gigs regularly in San Antonio and Austin (the Lone Star State's music capital) and occasionally in other areas of the country. He has headlined San Antonio's famous "Jazz'SAlive" festival three times and has opened for such famous performers as David Sanborn, Eddie Palmieri, The Four Freshmen and The Platters. He also has performed at private parties for Helen Reddy and Vikki Carr.
Now gearing up for his 20th anniversary as a performer, Slavin is more determined than ever to make his mark beyond San Antonio on the jazz and cabaret circuits in the United States and abroad. He is actively seeking gigs in New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, on cruise ships and overseas resorts, and at noted American and European jazz festivals.
"When it comes to crooning in the classic jazz/pop style, Ken Slavin has no peers." -- JIM BEAL, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS.
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Sexy!
author: Jeremy Martin, San Antonio Current
Slavin is bringing sexy back to this Oscar Hammerstein/Ben Oakland composition, assuming Frank Sinatra is your personal Cialis. If the audio weren't so pristine, you'd never guess Slavin's take on the title song from the 1937 film (a semi-obscure vehicle for opera star Grace Moore) was recorded 70 freaking years after the fact. Backed by violinists from the San Antonio Symphony, Slavin doesn't so much take crooning into the 21st century as skillfully recall the vibe of a time when simple lover's sentiments expressed in a syrup-thick baritone meant more than an excuse for an old-man boner joke. (Song added to The Current's streaming local music playlist, Mixx Tape, July 2009.)
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I'll Take Romance
author: Judy Hartman
I loved this album and can only hope he will do more of the same. There is never enough of this type of music,
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He finds the heart of classics
author: Michael Armstrong, Homer News (Alaska)
With his mellow baritone, on "I'll Take Romance" he finds the heart of classic show tunes and jazz standards like Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" or Duke Ellington and Bob Russell's "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me."
It's singing that earned him "Best Vocalist of 2007" by the readers of the San Antonio Current and given him the confidence to look farther.
With his fourth CD, Slavin thinks he has the chops to follow his dream. He's been shopping his CD all over the world, with orders coming from France, Portugal and Italy. He's gotten positive responses from jazz clubs and cabarets in New York. He said he hopes to take a year off from his public relations business to focus on his music career.
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Slavin is a knockout!
author: Michael Sutton
Give Ken Slavin a sad song, and you will hear some of the most beautifully melancholic crooning in quite a while. That’s no exaggeration. Slavin is blessed with a haunting, broken-hearted baritone that reaches beneath the skin, crawling its way into the deepest recesses of your soul. Accompanied by lush strings and lovely piano on the opener, “Thoughts of Your Smile (Manha de Carnaval),” Slavin is a knockout; his booming, sultry voice weaving its way into the black-and-white atmospherics of the lyrics, yearning, pleading for affection. That moment alone justifies the existence of this CD, a collection of smoothly polished and well-sung jazz standards.
On I’ll Take Romance, Slavin balances slow and upbeat numbers, making sure that the listeners don’t linger with one emotional response for too long of a time. For me, Slavin is at his best when he sings low and sad, such as the unrequited love of “I Can’t Reach Your Heart,” which should be on every mix tape given to a prospective date. The more spirited tracks on I’ll Take Romance, like the jubilant “Just You, Just Me” and the tropical “Mangos,” offer delicious fun; however, Slavin is truly mesmerizing when the material has him looking for, and not celebrating, love. Nevertheless, there isn’t a bum cut on the record; these are all classics, and Slavin performs them with class, respect, and warmth.
Maybe it’s because I’m in the Pacific Northwest, wherein it rains most of the year, and by 4 p.m. in the fall, it can get pitch-black already, but it’s the slower, more reflective tracks that I keep hitting the repeat button on.
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