( Jazz,female vocal) Ilona Knopfler - Some Kind Of Wonderful - 2003, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

EAC extraction logfile from 10. July 2006, 12:51 for CD
Ilona Knopfler / Some Kind Of Wonderful
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     Filename C:\EAC\Ilona Knopfler - Some Kind Of Wonderful [FLAC+CUE]\Ilona Knopfler - Some Kind Of Wonderful.wav
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REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 2003
REM DISCID CB0D7E0D
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.95b3"
PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
TITLE "Some Kind Of Wonderful "
FILE "Ilona Knopfler - Some Kind Of Wonderful.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Some Kind Of Wonderful"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "It's The Time Of The Season"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 04:43:41
    INDEX 01 04:45:33
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 08:02:53
    INDEX 01 08:03:58
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "One"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 14:41:40
    INDEX 01 14:42:17
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Something"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 18:37:39
    INDEX 01 18:39:23
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Moondance"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 21:49:05
    INDEX 01 21:50:64
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Alfie"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 26:32:57
    INDEX 01 26:35:41
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Unchain My Heart"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 33:14:54
    INDEX 01 33:16:40
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 38:02:62
    INDEX 01 38:04:34
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "He's Not There"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 41:59:00
    INDEX 01 42:00:65
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "River Man"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 45:13:13
    INDEX 01 45:16:23
  TRACK 12 AUDIO
    TITLE "Never My Love"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 49:37:06
    INDEX 01 49:37:18
  TRACK 13 AUDIO
    TITLE "Can't You See"
    PERFORMER "Ilona Knopfler"
    INDEX 00 52:56:26
    INDEX 01 52:58:23

Ilona Knopfler, who comes from France via Hong Kong with a soulful, belting voice, is being billed as a “jazz singer.” This album doesn’t permit her to confirm that statement. I would say instead that she has taken non-traditional jazz tunes and sung them tastefully, in a classic traditional pop style with jazz inflections, reminiscent of the best of Jack Jones or Marilyn Maye.
For starters, there is a strong cover of Grand Funk’s "Some Kind Of Wonderful" that showcases her strong, energetic voice. This collection also features jazzy retakes of the Zombies’ "It’s The Time Of The Season" and "He’s Not There," both showcasing funky piano solos by Eugene Maslov. The first offers some cool back phrasing by Ilona, and the second allows her to let loose with the pipes. She sings Neil Sedaka’s "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" and Burt Bacharach’s "Alfie" beautifully in a soft and sultry tone, making them definite highlights of the album.
"One," by Harry Nilsson, offers an interesting guitar solo by Pat Kelley and some decent scatting on the outro. "Never My Love" is done by the book, and "Can’t You See" out of the Marshall Tucker Band songbook comes through in a contemporary Nashville pop/country vein. For my money the three strongest cuts on the CD are "Unchain My Heart," "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood," and & quot;River Man." Why? They sound the least like the originals. They let Ilona Knopfler out from under the staggering shadow of the classic renditions of these songs.
This young lady is a good singer, a very good singer. I just wish the other folks (the producers/arrangers?) would have approached these songs in a more creative manner in regards to what she could have done vocally and/or musically to make them more her own. Let her out of the box, so to speak. It just seems a little too controlled an environment on the rest of the tracks. It's a very comfortable and enjoyable climate to be sure, but why not open the windows every now and then?
Additionally, it would be good to hear if this young lady can indeed tackle jazz: hard hitting, straight-ahead, take-no-prisoners jazz. She certainly has the voice, and perhaps more importantly the instincts of a fine jazz vocalist. At the moment, however, she can rest assured that she has created a fine debut album containing classic 20th century pop for the early 21st century listener.

Ilona Knopfler (vocals); Bill Armstrong (trumpet); Eugene Maslov (piano); Pat Kelley (guitar); Dave Carpenter (bass); Skeeto Valdez (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).