“A fantastic blend
of styles melding in together to produce a stunningly beautiful cd. The songs,
playing and singing is an absolute delight to hear. An album that needs to be
heard and savoured.“
Peter Merrett PBS 106-7 FM
Melbourne, Australia
“Great CD, a true surprise to
us. Excellent, we enjoyed it immensely, and have added it to our playlists
already, and will in the future.”
Harry Boerman, Veluwe FM
Netherlands
EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS
"Irish-Canadian vocalist Theresia
Bothe grew up in Mexico.
Guitarist/vocalist Peter Croton is a U.S.
native who was trained at the Oberlin Conservatory, and has won awards all over
North America during
his travels. Both live in Switzerland,
and while all of these facts may account for the folk/pop/jazz mix you hear on
this recording, it does not tell the complete story. While heavier on the
folk/pop component, there's a sweetness and light to the original material
heard throughout. Bothe is distinctively Irish in her vocal style, rolling r's
and brandishing the clipped, bold and bright bonnie tones associated with
Celtic singing. Croton is similar to Gordon Lightfoot vocally, while on the
guitar his approach is fairly basic within the folk tradition, though at times
it's clear he's heard his share of the mellower side of Kenny Burrell. The most
surprising ideas, though much less traditionally mainstream jazz than one might
think, are the tributes to Langston Hughes and Billie Holiday. The duo play an
homage to the legendary poet "On The Death Of Langston Hughes," while
the sad "Song For Billie Holiday" is in 3/4 time. A New Orleans
shuffle in a quartet setting shows the best improvisation and swing during
"Life Is Fine" as sung by Croton, Bothe's feature on the lullaby
"Song To A Sleeping Child" is the most tender tune of the date, and
during the rock oriented song of departure "You're Running Away
Again," both sing in harmony. The remainder of the program leans to folk,
especially Croton's impressive acoustic guitar finger style triplet forms on
"Land Of Dreams" with a more ethereal Bothe, while "Just Another
Shoulder To Lean On" markedly molds the swing and pop shells into a
unified whole. " All Music Guide, Michael G.
Nastos
"Bothe
sings from her heart with a strong rich voice that will excite folk music
lovers as they expand their envelope. Our favorite was "Another day in
life with you" with a cool guitar intro by Peter." O’s Place Jazz Newsletter, D. Oscar Groomes
"This band creates a unique blend of
folk pop and jazz. Bothe and Croton's music is formed from the stylings of
Billy Holiday and Kenny Burrell. The voice of Theresia Bothe is a bit like
Judie Collins and Joan Baez, so that definitely fits with the theme of folk
jazz.
There also seems to be a dose of
poetry-laced lyrics infused in some of these songs. "On the death of
Langston Hughes" has a slow melodic sound that is more folk than jazz, but
incorporates both styles. "Song for Billie Holiday" has impressive
guitar accompaniment with strong lyrics. The chordings chosen by Croton fit
this song to a tee. A subtle echo effect lends merit to this track. The guitar
tone is good and a slight tremolo sound is present. "I'll Sing a Song for
You" has an intro with jazz chords. It moves into a faster ballad sung by
Bothe and has cool jazz drumming and upright bass on the track. The CD "I'll Sing a Song for
You" has impressive vocals and jazz guitar playing, which will make it
appeal to fans of folk-laden jazz." Metro Spirit, Rich McCracken II
"Two
talented pros travel the singer/songwriter route, with a little genre splicing
for flavor, and deliver a nice set of originals that goes down well and never
comes across as over reaching. Tackling life’s big questions in song,
this is the kind of under the radar, neo-folk that gives you the easy kind of
music you can kick back with but isn’t fluff." MIDWEST
RECORD, Chris Spector "I really like Croton's guitar
work, very much in the tradition of many jazz guitarists throughout the years." The Run-Off Groove, John
Book
