Dennis Keene & the Voices of Ascension
make a giant leap from the chant and Renaissance music for which they are best known in this series of choral settings of the theater and film songs of
Jerome Kern
. As it turns out, however, their "new look" consists mainly of drawing
Kern
back to their familiar style rather than making a change in their approach. The "unique choral arrangements" (as a sleeve note puts it) of
Keene
,
James Bassi
and
Donald Fraser
frequently render the
songs unrecognizable. There are exceptions:
Bassi's
arrangement of
"I Won't Dance"
conveys some of the playfulness of the
Fred Astaire
-
Ginger Rogers
original and the title song, written for the rangy talents of
Deanna Durbin
, works well for the chorus. But for the most part, at least in these arrangements and performances,
Kern's
music proves unsuited to such a staid choral approach, and this is one classical/pop hybrid attempt that doesn't work. Theater music expert
Miles Kreuger's
extensive annotations on the songs are irrelevant to the music contained on the disc, but at least serve to remind us of what these songs are supposed to be about. ~ William Ruhlmann