Stacey Kent recording in the live room.
I remember two young musicians arriving at the studio one autumn evening, perhaps in October 1996, to talk about making their first album. They were Stacey Kent and Jim Tomlinson.
Their debut, Close Your Eyes, was released in 1997. None of us could have known how many records, sessions and years of friendship would follow.
Over the years, I have recorded, mixed and mastered much of Stacey’s music here, and co-produced several albums. The sessions have brought concentrated work, plenty of laughter, long meals and late-night listening.
Jim has always been central to it all. His arrangements, saxophone playing and musical instincts, and his understanding of his wife Stacey, shape the records. After so many years, we know one another’s ways of working. There is a great deal of trust in the room.
Stacey and Jim listening back in the control room.
Stacey’s singing has an extraordinary intimacy. My job is to preserve that, so that the small details of a performance reach the listener. The music can sound effortless, but there is careful work behind it.
Curtis with Stacey and Jim during a recording session.
Stacey’s catalogue has now passed a billion streams worldwide. That figure belongs to her body of work as a whole. Having played a part in so many of those recordings, I find it remarkable to think how far the music has travelled from this room in Sussex.
Stacey between takes.
The Boy Next Door, released in 2003, became Stacey’s first Gold album. It also contains a small personal footnote that still makes me smile.
On “Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee”, I joined Jim and Stacey providing backing vocals. Jazzwise even picked up on my contribution in its review. A tiny cameo, but a very happy one.
The Boy Next Door, reviewed in Jazzwise.
There have been some lovely milestones along the way. Breakfast on the Morning Tram was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards. In 2025, Barack Obama included “I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again”, one of our recordings, in his annual favourite music list.
But these photographs bring back the sessions themselves: the musicians, the conversations and the pleasure of listening together. Working with Roberto Menescal, one of the founding fathers of bossa nova, is a particularly happy part of that story.
Stacey with Roberto Menescal in the studio.
With the studio being residential, the days have a rhythm of their own. We move from the live room to the control room, then to the kitchen table and back again. The conversations over meals are part of the experience, and sometimes part of the work too.
Stacey, Jim, Roberto Menescal and fellow musicians outside the studio.
Nearly three decades after that first visit, I am immensely proud of the music we have made together. I am even more grateful for the friendship.
Stacey and Jim are among my dearest friends.
More like family.
Curtis Schwartz, Stacey Kent and Jim Tomlinson.
