Carol Duboc: All of You

Building on the significant strength of her first two albums, Carol Duboc slows things considerably for her third Gold Note disc, All of You. At first flush, it sounds like a straightforward assemblage of ballads, with originals and contemporary covers from the Bill Withers, Lennon and McCartney and Sting songbooks nestled in cozy, acoustic settings. But closer listening reveals that the keenly imaginative Duboc, one of the most interesting and dynamic jazz singers of her generation, has cleverly shaped an evocative excavation of love in all its forms, exploring such disparate themes as obsessive love (“Every Breath You Take,” “Drowning”), romantic misjudgment (“I Underestimated You”), satisfying devotion (the Duboc-penned title track and Bobby Hebb’s ebullient “Sunny”), romantic subjugation (Withers’ “Use Me,” “Empty”) and self-delusion (“My Luck Is Going to Change”) and the promise of romantic renewal (“Blackbird”). Tying the album’s various threads together, Duboc concludes with “Love You More Than Life Itself,” which sassily suggests “que sera sera” resignation to love’s vagaries and our individual and collective inability to chart the heart’s path.

Originally Published April 1, 2005