Courtney Fortune - Speak Love

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Courtney Fortune , “Speak Love”
Origin 82541

“...(Fortune) handles adeptly the balance of grace and appeal to sensuousness that is an earmark of many jazz-vocal greats... Courtney has developed a textured, sultry, arrestingly mature torch singer’s delivery..”

-Peter Monaghan, Earshot Jazz

The dark tones of Los Angeles-based singer Courtney Fortune's voice transition seamlessly from jazz to folk and pop on her debut album, Speak Love. Adapting her diverse musical interests at an early age, Fortune has garnered fans from the U.S. to Japan for her smooth voice and warm presence. Along with a collection of standards (including a lush "I Wish You Love"), half of the songs on Speak Love were written by Fortune or co-written with four-time Grammy-nominated composer and arranger Chris Walden, who also produced the album. Recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, Speak Love is an eclectic mix of musical influences that revitalizes and inspires loyal jazz fans while giving depth to the current popular music landscape.

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TRACKS:

1. Care of Cell 44 3:56
2. I Wish You Love 4:06
3. Lost In The Memory 3:33
4. You're Starting To Feel Like Home 4:22
5. Close The Door 3:39
6. Speak Love 4:27
7. I Love The Way You’re Breaking My Heart 3:22
8. Like Always 3:54
9. Dindi 3:26
10. Bitter Words 3:16
11. I'll Keep Waiting 4:06
12. Hello Love 4:02

PERFORMERS:

vocal: Courtney Fortune
piano: Christian Jacob
hammond B3: Jim Cox
keyboard: Blake Angelos
guitar: Dean Parks, Andrew Synowiec, Miles Fortune
bass: Kevin Axt
drums: Gregg Field, Jamey Tate
percussion: M.B. Gordy
trumpet: Till Brönner
trombone: Bob McChesney
violin: Charlie Bisharat
background vocals: Kenton Chen, Michael Harris
solo cello: Steve Erdody
clarinet: Jeff Driskill
flugelhorn: Chris Walden
Strings arranged and conducted by Chris Walden

PRODUCTION:

Produced and arranged by Chris Walden
Recording and mixing engineer:
Steve Genewick
Additional recording:
Chip Westerfield, Malcolm Luker
Assistant engineers: Josh Blanchard,
Paul Smith, Rick Fernandez
Recorded at Castle Oaks Studios, Calabasas, CA and Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA
Mixed at G-Studio Digital, Studio City and
Capitol Studios, Hollywood
Mastering: Sangwook "Sunny" Nam, Ojai, CA
Recording dates: May 27-28/08, Oct. 15/08, July 21-25/08, May 13-16/09
Intern: Drew Jordan
Orchestra contractor: Gina Zimmitti
Cover photograph: Robin Bartholick
Cover styling: Carole Mayervich
Additional photography: Beate Walden & Ben Kerns
Front cover design: Fortune Design Studio
Design & layout: John Bishop
Legal affairs: Helen Yu
Publicity: Costa Communications
Executive Producer: Chris Walden

REVIEWS:

Muszer Oldal - Budapest (Rudolf Radnai)

Translated from Hungarian

A beautiful blond 21 years old singer first album a real surprise. Rarely, but still interesting to hear such fine voices in the jazz world. It is no coincidence that the young guest singer with great success in Japan and England, where clubs have elapsed before an audience of exam success. First album Chris Walde...

Cape Cod Times (Ken Capobianco)

Courtney Fortune Speaks Love in Gorgeous Tones
There are so many female pop vocalists steeped on “American Idol” histrionics who want to out Mariah Mariah these days and jazz singers who don’t have the word nuance in their dictionaries or think they have to imitate the husky tones of Cassandra Wilson or chilly remove of Diana Krall. So, few fre...

All Music Guide (Adam Greenberg)

It's a little surprising for Seattle's Origin label, heavy on instrumentalists and local scene players, to take on a torch singer in its portfolio. However, L.A. area songstress Courtney Fortune shows stronger development than many of the average lounge singers, combining with contemporary big-band maestro Chris Walden for a number of compositions ...

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