Madeleine PEYROUX - Half The Perfect World 2006

Madeleine PEYROUX - Half The Perfect World 2006

Jazz

Though dismissed by some critics as a Billie Holiday imitator, Madeleine Peyroux has her own distinctive approach to singing. The Lady Day comparisons are apt, and Peyroux's take on breezy, melancholic jazz and blues pushes a vintage button, ...    Full Descriptionbut her albums are dressed up in enough contemporary style to make them fresh. HALF THE PERFECT WORLD (2006), for instance, is a deeply pleasurable listen from back to front. Whether she's bringing her elegant, intimate touch to familiar contemporary favorites like Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" and Tom Waits's "The Heart of Saturday Night," or offering up her fine originals, Peyroux turns in a batch of gorgeous, studied performances on HALF. The result is a quiet, haunting gem of an album.
From Cd Universe.
**
Smokey-voiced chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux's third CD is a lovely collection of after-hours ruminations and should confirm her rise to fame. Credit producer Larry Klein for doing a bang-up job with the album's sound: the elegant, pared-down arrangements are all brushed drums, acoustic guitars, and cool organ licks. But of course it's Peyroux's voice that brings it all home--preferably one where the shades are drawn, embers are smoldering in the fireplace, and the white wine is kept dry. Two-thirds of the songs are well-chosen covers, including a duet with k.d. lang on Joni Mitchell's "River"; a relaxed version of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," from Midnight Cowboy; a delicately lilting samba take on Leonard Cohen and Anjani Thomas's title track; Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise," performed in the original French; and Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," from Modern Times. The four originals, all coauthored by Peyroux, easily keep up with such august company, especially "I'm All Right"--written with Klein and Walter Becker, it captures the easy sophistication of Becker's regular band, Steely Dan. Fans of Norah Jones (whose collaborator Jesse Harris cowrote three of the songs) should gobble up this album, but Peyroux is no mere imitator: She's her own, very real thing.
By Elisabeth Vincentelli.
**
01. I'm Alright  3.27
02. Summer Wind, The  3.55
03. Blue Alert   4.10
04. Everybody's Talkin' 5.10
05. River  5.19
06. Little Bit, A  4.02
07. Once in a While  4.00
08. (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night  3.27
09. Half the Perfect World  4.21
10. La Javanaise  4.11
11. California Rain   2.57
12. Smile  3.57
**
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Madeleine PEYROUX & William Galison - Got You On My Mind 2004

Madeleine PEYROUX & William Galison - Got You On My Mind 2004
Label: Waking Up Music

Jazz    

Vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, who has become one of my favorites, collaborates with multi-instrumentalist musician William Galison in this outstanding CD recorded in 2003. The combination of Ms. Peyroux distinctive voice, and Mr. Galison masterful accompaniment on the harmonica and guitar, make this album a must have. As a team the duo conjures-up pure magic! The chemistry between them is absolutely palpable. There are three solo instrumentals on the disc, original compositions by Galison. His virtuoso work on the harmonica is superb, and the mournful "Jealous Guy" is one of my favorite cuts. The two are backed by some of the industry's top musicians, including drummer Shawn Pelton, Bob Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier, and Rod Stewart's bassist Conrad Korsch. Carly Simon makes a delightful cameo appearance in "Shoulda Known."

The opening track, "Back In Your Own Backyard" simply swings. Josephine Baker's sultry "J'ai Deux Amours is updated here, and Ms. Peyroux's rendition of Jerome Kerns' "The Way You Look Tonight" is performed with extraordinary depth, as is the title track. Galison and Peyroux sing a duet in "Heaven Help Us All" to the sound of Jean Baptiste Bocle's Hammond B3. Songs made famous by John Lennon and Stevie Wonder are also featured.

I first heard Madeleine Peyroux sing when I bought her highly acclaimed CD, "Careless Love." I was enchanted by her voice and her selection of songs and wanted more. Thus, "Got You on My Mind" joined my CD collection and certainly enriches it. I have heard many people couple Ms. Peyroux's name with Billy Holiday's. I don't want to be contrary, but I don't want to compare her smoky smooth sound to anyone else's either. To me, there is no other like "Lady Day," nor does there have to be. Madeleine Peyroux, who brings a husky, full-throated sensuality, along with joyous spontaneity and, at times, a romantic languor to her songs, certainly does not have to stand in another vocalist's shadow. She clearly stamps the music with her own special style - and a very classy one that is.
By  Jana L. Perskie.
**
Got you on my mind is the collaboration between chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux and harmonica virtuoso/ guitarist William Galison, with whom she has toured extensively in recent years. On Ms. Peyroux's first recording since Deamland, Madeleine and William cover a wide variety of tunes, from a Josephine Baker classic through tunes made famous by Willy Dixon, Stevie Wonder and John Lennon, as well as three delightful original compositions. The accompanying musicians are stars in their own right, including Bob Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier and Saturday Night Live's drummer Shawn Pelton, and there is a delightful cameo by none other than Carly Simon. To many of Madeleine's fans, Got You On My Mind represents her exquisite singing at its most natural and unconstrained -- in an informal, musical context close to her roots and to her heart. What comes across most strongly from this CD however, is the amazing musical chemistry between these two extraordinary artists.
Amazon Editorial Reviews.
**
The trippy, cinematic journey that is William Galison and Madeleine Peyroux's new album Got You On My Mind, opens with the bright, swinging glee of "Back In Your Own Backyard". It sways through the happily plaintive "J'ai Deux Amours", swaggers through a Charlie Chaplin-in-Technicolor "Rag For Madi", and continues on this diversely scenic escapade for 11 deeply touching tracks. Meanwhile, hallucinations of a passionate Josephine Baker sauntering past Montemartre cafe, a dust-kickin' John Lennon strolling through a corn field and lovers everywhere, aching with tumult, dancing with blissful indulgence flash through the mind. Peyroux' husky, full-throated voice brings to mind one iconic, white gardenia wearing lady. The way her inflection lilts up and quivers for a few suspended moments, like in "Heaven To Me" when she breaks the word "heaven", in two, make you think Billie Holiday must be standing behind her breathing through Peyroux's brown locks. Other times, she sings with a lovely, tarnished allure, cut with a hint of tartness like a Granny Smith apple, like on the samba infused "The Way You Look Tonight"....
By Celeste Sutherland. All About Jazz.
**
01. Back In Your Own Back Yard 2:32
02. J'Ai Deux Amours 3:17
03. Flambee Montalbanese 3:01
04. Got You On My Mind 4:16
05. Jealous Guy 3:39
06. The Way You Look Tonight 3:02
07. Rag For Madi 3:17
08. Playin' 4:40
09. Shoulda Known 5:09
10. Heaven To Me 4:05
11. Heaven Help Us All 4:32
**
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Madeleine PEYROUX - Careless Love 2004 (REPOST)

Madeleine PEYROUX - Careless Love 2004 (REPOST)
Label: Rounder / Umgd

Jazz

When Madeleine Peyroux's debut, Dreamland, was released in 1996, its success threw her for a loop. She's taken eight years to create this follow-up, and, at age 30, she brings a confidence and resilience to this dozen-song set. She's able to move seamlessly between songs by writers as diverse as Elliott Smith and W.C. Handy, whose title track was popularized by Bessie Smith. Though American-born, Peyroux absorbed the language and culture of France growing up in Paris with her French-teacher mother. On her debut, she covered Edith Piaf, and this time out she wraps herself around "J'ai Deux Amours," which Josephine Baker sang to the Allied troops during World War II.
By David Greenberger. AMG.
**
Boasting an enthralling voice many have regarded as reminiscent of Billie Holiday's, Madeleine Peyroux burst onto the music scene eight years ago with the extremely successful release of Dreamland. Championed by major publications such as The New York Times and Time Magazine, Peyroux was immediately recognized as a remarkably talented singer with a promising future. With the release of her long awaited follow-up album Careless Love, Peyroux's potential as an artist is truly realized. Her smoky voice and knowing delivery make each song her own, whether she's singing vintage tunes by W.C. Handy and Hank Williams, or contemporary songs by Leonard Cohen and Elliott Smith. Producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin) weaves strands of acoustic blues, country ballads, classic jazz, torch songs and pop into a vibrant fabric that is both timeless and thoroughly up to date, with Peyroux's arresting vocals always front and center.
**
How true! Musicians take a lifetime to prepare their first CD, then are expected to have an equally brilliant release in a few months. The process rarely works. Rarer is an artist so dedicated to quality that eight years passes between a highly acclaimed debut and sophmore CD. Even more unusual is the artist who scores perfectly both times, so far apart.
Then again, nobody with ears could call Madeleine Peyroux typical. She's a genuine gem amongst the clutter composing today's musical spectrum. Thank goodness she's faithful to her remarkable vocal stylings.
Talent aplenty, Ms. Peyroux's voice and delivery strike your memory in familiar ways. Comparison to world-famous blues and jazz females are tempting, perhaps justified. Nonetheless, Ms. Peyroux's never derivative but rather refreshingly comfortable in an all-new manner.
Ms. Peyroux also has smarts enough to work superb material. She easily intreprets standards by such great tunesmiths as Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, and W.C. Handy into her own repetoire. She ain't a bad writer herself.
Ms. Peyroux invested time wisely since her 1996 introduction. Hope we don't have to wait as long for her next CD, but surely I'm willing to if it takes that long for another perfect CD.
The title of the closing track precisely sums it all up: "This Is Heaven To Me!"
By  D. Sean Brickell.
**
Madeleine Peyroux- Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Dean Parks- Guitars
Larry Goldings- Piano, Wurlitzer Piano, Estey, Hammond Organ, Celeste
David Piltch- Bass
Jay Bellerose- Drums and Percussion
Lee Thornburg- Trumpet on "This Is Heaven to Me" And "No More"
Scott Amendola- Brushes on "I'll Look Around"
**
01. Dance Me to the End of Love 3:57
02. Don't Wait Too Long 3:12
03. Don't Cry Baby 3:18
04. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go 3:27
05. Between the Bars 3:44
06. No More 3:33
07. Lonesome Road 3:11
08. J'ai Deux Amours 2:56
09. Weary Blues 3:40
10. I'll Look Around 4:48
11. Careless Love 3:51
12. This Is Heaven to Me 3:11
**
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