Canadian mezzo-soprano Patricia Hammond has appeared as a soloist in Europe and North America, singing in Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, the Bruges Concertgebeouw and London’s Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls under Ivan Fischer and Sir Simon Rattle with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In opera, Patricia has appeared at the Wexford Festival, Covent Garden’s Linbury Theatre and the Herodus Atticus Theatre in Athens.
But, nowadays, her musical yearning has taken her into working with the likes of the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, the RMS Lusitania Ragtime Orchestra, and, as “The Canadian Nightingale” with Albert Ball’s Flying Aces band, performing jazz from WWI in community halls and speakeasys. And it's this love of nostalgic songs that permeates this new CD. She's already been played on Her Majestys BBC Radio, and performed at the Poppy Factory on Remembrance Day for the ex-servicemen and women of the British legion, and this loving recreation of songs from a simpler time brings a warm glow to the cheeks.
There are tunes here that I've never heard before, but then we had our ain songs up here in Scotchland, but numbers such as 'Love’s Old Sweet Song' and 'We’ll Gather Lilacs' were favourites at my Grannys knee. The dead one, not that one that called me Richard, or "the boy". And for every song I didn't know, there would be one that had me going "aah, I remember it now". Songs like 'Smilin’ Through' and 'Come To The Fair'. The ensemble used on the record bring the music to life, both through conventional instruments as well as some spoons and banjos.
My favourite? That had to be 'Button Up Your Overcoat', which is a lot saucier than I remember it. But that's the Roaring Twenties for you. My Great Auntie Euphemia would have loved this, and known the words to every song. But even a youngster like me got caught up in the mood and the memories. An absolute treat. As someone much better known than me says, “The CD is a music box of vintage treasures, beautifully performed by a remarkable woman”. So, if it's good enough for Sir Michael Parkinson, then it should be good enough for you.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Patricia Hammond has appeared as a soloist in Europe and North America, singing in Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, the Bruges Concertgebeouw and London’s Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls under Ivan Fischer and Sir Simon Rattle with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In opera, Patricia has appeared at the Wexford Festival, Covent Garden’s Linbury Theatre and the Herodus Atticus Theatre in Athens.
But, nowadays, her musical yearning has taken her into working with the likes of the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, the RMS Lusitania Ragtime Orchestra, and, as “The Canadian Nightingale” with Albert Ball’s Flying Aces band, performing jazz from WWI in community halls and speakeasys. And it's this love of nostalgic songs that permeates this new CD. She's already been played on Her Majestys BBC Radio, and performed at the Poppy Factory on Remembrance Day for the ex-servicemen and women of the British legion, and this loving recreation of songs from a simpler time brings a warm glow to the cheeks.
There are tunes here that I've never heard before, but then we had our ain songs up here in Scotchland, but numbers such as 'Love’s Old Sweet Song' and 'We’ll Gather Lilacs' were favourites at my Grannys knee. The dead one, not that one that called me Richard, or "the boy". And for every song I didn't know, there would be one that had me going "aah, I remember it now". Songs like 'Smilin’ Through' and 'Come To The Fair'. The ensemble used on the record bring the music to life, both through conventional instruments as well as some spoons and banjos.
My favourite? That had to be 'Button Up Your Overcoat', which is a lot saucier than I remember it. But that's the Roaring Twenties for you. My Great Auntie Euphemia would have loved this, and known the words to every song. But even a youngster like me got caught up in the mood and the memories. An absolute treat. As someone much better known than me says, “The CD is a music box of vintage treasures, beautifully performed by a remarkable woman”. So, if it's good enough for Sir Michael Parkinson, then it should be good enough for you.