Bittersweet and Blue
Bittersweet and Blue is the second album by British singer-songwriter Gwyneth Herbert. It was released in 2004 on the Universal Classics and Jazz label. It comprised mainly jazz standards. Herbert's version of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", taken from the album, was featured on the soundtrack of romantic comedy Leap Year, directed by Anand Tucker and starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. The album received a four-starred review in The Guardian.
Reception
Linda Serck, reviewing Bittersweet and Blue for musicOMH, described it as "a stunning album" from a "great jazz talent" who "embodies all the smoky jazz boozers she's ever sung in and tacitly commands you to prick up your ears and listen".John Fordham, in a four-starred review for The Guardian, praised Herbert's "precociously powerful chemistry of taste and meticulous care for every sound – from a whisper to an exhortation."
Personnel
- Gwyneth Herbert – vocals
- John Parricelli – acoustic, electric, nylon string and steel string guitars
- Will Rutter – acoustic guitar on "Bittersweet and Blue"
- Tom Cawley – piano, vibes, Fender Rhodes and Hammond Organ
- Mark Hodgson – double bass
- Jeremy Stacey – drums
- Ian Thomas – drums on "Fever" and "Almost Like Being In Love"
- Paul Clarvis – percussion
- Steve Sidwell – trumpet
- Neil Sidwell – trombone
- Nigel Hitchcock – tenor saxophone on "It's Alright With Me" and "A Little Less"
- Dave Bishop – tenor saxophone