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Janis Siegel: A Thousand Beautiful Things
ByEdmar Casteneda's Colombian harp and the band's bright Latin jazz accompaniment gives Siegel a pleasant texture with which to sing songs of love and romantic pleasure. Caramel mambos into our hearts with a lightly dramatic flair; both Casteneda and pianist Edsel Gomez contribute stirring solo spots and suave accompaniment. Siegel sings this one with a romantic presence, multitracking the piece and filling it with positive thoughts.
A Thousand Beautiful Things allows Siegel and her ensemble to bring a lovely mambo texture to the dance floor. The music simmers gently and she takes us for an exotic tour of far-off lands where the landscape is filled with nothing but spiritual pleasures, both wholesome and real. Paul Simon's "Love places the singer amid a chorus of voices that float gently over a syncopated Caribbean breeze. Here and elsewhere, Edsel Gomez adds considerable depth to Siegel's heartfelt interpretation.
With Casteneda's harp as accompaniment, Siegel interprets "A Wish sincerely as a romantic Valentine's Day greeting. She closes the program with "Did You See the Moon Tonight? performed slowly with piano accompaniment: sweet, sincere and filled with the beauty that rest of her album delivers in abundance.
Track Listing
Hidden Place; The Suitcase Song; I Can
Personnel
Janis Siegel
vocalsJanis Siegel: vocals, background vocals; Edsel Gomez: piano, background vocals; Edmar Casteneda: Columbian harp; John Benitez: bass, background vocals; Steve Hass: drums, background vocals; Luisito Quintero: drums, percussion, background vocals; Brian Lynch: trumpet, flugelhorn; Marlon Saunders, Silvia Ramirez, Silvia Rodriques, Silvia Maria Romero, Silvia Rosario: background vocals.
Album information
Title: A Thousand Beautiful Things | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Telarc Records