From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V4 #27 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Saturday, March 6 1999 Volume 04 : Number 027 HARBINGER DIGEST To post, mail harbinger@smoe.org To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger-digest To get list info file, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info harbinger-digest Today's Subjects: ---------------- (harbinger) REVIEW: Stormy Weather [Kenneth R Carpenter Subject: (harbinger) REVIEW: Stormy Weather I spent last night listening to _Stormy Weather_ ... three times. For those who don't care to read this whole review and only want to know how Paula's song sounds, here's the abridged version. Paula's rendition of "You've Changed" is softly and beautifully executed, but it's not even the best song on the album. If you want to buy this CD only for Paula's song, it would be worth your while to spend what I'm sure this CD will sell for when it is released commercially. However, you'll be getting some of the best and most refreshing live jazz and blues performances by other women in music at the same time. I'm jealous as hell that I didn't get to attend this show in person. Now on to the rest of the review... I love this CD. I love it so much that it took everything in me to loan it to a friend of mine to take it home for a listen tonight. When the _Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil_ soundtrack was released a couple of years ago, I was impressed from the first time I listened to it. Stormy Weather has eclipsed the _Midnight..._ soundtrack for me. Happily, I found that I was actually surprised by a few of the performances on this CD (especially those pulled off by Gwen Stefani and Shawn Colvin - to be discussed further below). Gwen Stefani (of No Doubt) is the first act, performing "Almost Blue." In this performance, her voice sounds a bit like it did in "Don't Speak," but not as pleading and, hence, much less annoying. This time she sounds a little saucier and her voice is quite well suited to this style of music. I hope that she might explore this side of music more. I much prefer her vocal style on this CD to that on No Doubt's _Tragic Kingdom_. Paula's "You've Changed" is great. I have found that I really enjoy hearing Paula's jazz performances because her ability to use her voice so much like a musical instrument is entirely well-suited to jazz or blues. I like listening to her voice flow from a full-bodied alto tone that slips into that soft breathless near-whimper and back again. She's eases through a song. That's the case with "You've Changed." She gets a bit more vehement toward the end of the song, but for the most part, it's just smooth and easy. "But Beautiful" is such a lovely song to begin with and it is made even more so by Shawn Colvin. This was probably the sweetest surprise on the CD and ties with Stevie Nicks' "At Last" as my favorite songs from the album. Shawn's sings this song so sweetly and honestly that I was instantly reminded of the vocal quality of Doris Day. The ingenue approach is very flattering to Shawn's voice -- something I would never have guessed she was capable of pulling off. Trisha Yearwood's "Good Guy" is a good song, but not one of my favorites from the CD. She has a strong, clear voice, but it's almost too strong and too clear for my taste. I like voices with more character. Sorry that I can't gush over Trisha, my Helsinkian Hellion (and you know who you are...). I think you'll like the song, though. It's pretty... just not my cuppa. Sandra Bernhard, the only act on the CD who isn't known widely for her singing talents, offers up a hilarious rendition of "Is That All There Is?" Sandra is overtly girlish in the spoken portions of the song, between which she builds and builds until she's belting out the final chorus with all of the flair of Vegas. I very much enjoyed hearing Sandra's contribution to the concert. "Good Morning Heartache" by Sheryl Crow works well with her voice. I'm sure that her fans will love hearing Sheryl on this song. Pretty song. I need to hear this one again to get a better opinion of it. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" by Natalie Cole is undeniably good, but it's not necessarily a stretch for Natalie so it doesn't really stand out in the crowd. She's as reliable as always. Stevie Nicks brings down the house with her version "At Last" - a song known best as sung by Etta James. WOW!! I had trepidations before listening to this song. I wasn't sure if Stevie was going to be able to pull this one off respectably, but she really makes this song her own. That butterscotch-and-whisky voice of her coupled with her maturity and femininity make for an awesome performance. Bjork performs "Gloomy Sunday." Now, my favorite version of this song is the live one from Sarah McLachlan. It's a heartbreaker. She sings it so sadly you just want to cry. When I listened to Bjork's interpretation of the song, it made me think of Sarah's version -- not only because the two are so markedly different from one another, but because it made me think of another Sarah McLachlan song -- "Ice." Sarah has released two versions of "Ice" -- one appears on _Fumbling Toward Ecstasy_ (that's the sad, quiet, bleak version) and the other appears on _The Freedom Sessions_ (that's the you-broke-my-heart-and-now-I'm-kinda-crazy version). That's how I can compare the "Gloomy Sunday" of Bjork and that of Sarah McLachlan. Sarah's is poignant and gothic and heartwrenching. Bjork's is edgy and modern and semi-crazed. I like Bjork's, but I love Sarah's. This one from Bjork is different, but then so is she and I can help but love her for that. Then comes Joni Mitchell with the title track. She's kicks ass. Plain and simple, I don't know if anyone could have given as much to that song as Joni. Her voice has grown rich and textured over the years. Her vocal arrangement on this song is just new enough to give the song a push away from the straight-forward traditional approach. Joni could decide to sing blues from here on out and I'd buy every CD she sold. For those of you who, like myself, are collectors of Paula's music and care about such things as cover art, you'll want to know that this promotional CD is packaged in an ecopack (just like the packaging used for the 10-version single of WHATCG?). The cover art is a plain purplish silver field with the title, etc. in black text -- no images. The only image appears on the back -- it's a photo of all the women who performed lined up on stage with their arms around each other. Don Henley and someone who I think is probably Vince Mendoza (the man who did the musical arrangement and conducting) also appear in this shot. I'm guessing that the commercial release will be presented in a different form of packaging and will probably have other artwork. So, there you have it. I hope that all of you can manage to fanagle a copy of this CD instead of having to wait for the commercial release. I'm trying now to get my hands on other copies to share with you. No luck so far, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll let you know. Peace. Kenn - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger That's the way to unsub even for poor, benighted AOL users. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html For This Fire kinda-lyrics write Riphug@aol.com ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V4 #27 ******************************