Sylvia Bennett's got a bit of a record as a torch singer/lounge singer type. She's a specialist in the Great American Songbook, crooning her way through the classics in a basic format. On
Smile, she attempts to mix up her repertoire a little bit. Though the songs are still standards from the Songbook, they're mixed into a basic bossa nova here. It's an interesting idea, and the songs are slightly transformed. However, they all fall into the same sound form as one another, never quite making it out of the mire of a bland bossa.
Bennett's voice is nice, able to fill out the curves of a song without quite going too far. The moves to bossa nova aren't exactly revolutionary, but they're done fairly well.
Smile is a nice, gentle listen. It may not reshape your world-view of the standards, but it'll fill a quiet hour or so. ~ Adam Greenberg