Benita Hill - Fan the Flame
The Nashville Scene
Review By Michael McCall
Benita Hill, Fan the Flames (Watermark) Benita Hill isn't trying to find a niche or a marketing scheme. Instead, she seeks to create music with a languid, timeless quality that draws on pop standards and cocktail jazz. Her songs explore the dilemmas of adult women, depicting people whose needs and desires have evolved with time. Her arrangements, created by pianist Kevin Madill, draw on the amber glow of torch and swing music, and her original material would stand up well next to the classics of Porter, Mercer and Berlin.
Vocally, Hill lacks Ella Fitzgerald's bell-like intonation or Sarah Vaughan's artistic acrobatics, so she compensates by instilling her songs with character and nuance. She tends to lean heavily on smoky sensuality, coming across as a stylist on the order of Peggy Lee or Julie London. Her humid voice is boldly suggestive, but in a pre-Madonna way, hinting at naughtiness rather than flaunting it. One song, for example, transforms a night of reading old love letters into a sensual experience.
For all her suggestiveness, though, Hill gives her songs considerable emotional depth. "Something Old, Something Blue" details adultery from a woman's point of view, building dramatic tension as the singer exposes the woman's motivation and regret. "Take the Keys to My Heart" matches exhilarating lyrics with vibrant swing, while "Look Homeward Angel" quietly examines the pain of a woman who has lost her spirit along with her lover. And Hill's version of "Walkin' After Midnight," performed as a duet with Mike Webber's acoustic double bass, manages to put new fire into an over-recorded song.
A veteran of the Nashville club scene, Hill has been appearing regularly as of late at Clayton-Blackmon and other settings that provide an appropriately low-key atmosphere for her playful, insightful music. As the city continues to expand, it's nice to see that music as sophisticated as hers is starting to receive more attention and exposure.