Search - Eden Atwood :: Night in the Life

Gorgeous... Everything about Eden is gorgeous

Samuel Chell | 07/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you ever got the opportunity to see Eden perform in person, you are truly blessed. Her musical talent is unrelenting in it's ability to capture you and not let go!!! Once you put her CD's in your player, you're not going to want to pull them out for a long, long time! From her hauntingly beautiful ballads, to her fun style with songs like, "Everything I've Got Belongs To You", I haven't spent a Sunday morning without her!!!Eden, we miss you in Chi-town!!! Keep singing... Please!!!"

True Blue

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 08/17/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I recently purchased an album by a certain Canadian female "jazz" singer that doesn't contain a single truly honest, let alone inspired, moment in the collection. Every arrangement, every note is calculated to reach and grab the largest possible audience, without regard to the jazz tradition, to the meaning of the song, to "interpretation" as opposed to "exploitation" of the material.Enter Eden Atwood, who despite her youthful years, knows and reflects the tradition of the Great American Songbook as well as the legacy of great singers, from Billie to Shirley Horn. On this, apparently the last of her albums for Concord, she reveals a slightly rougher, world-weary timbre (a cold, perhaps?) than on her previous albums, but it's a quality that is not at all unbecoming--if anything, it enriches the expressiveness of her interpretation of these introspective ballads (the Eden of just 2 years previous would probably not have been up to a lyric like "Lost in the Stars"). At the same time, there are still several notes which, when combined with a closed vowel sound like the "schwa" phoneme, produce a forced falsetto quality in the mid-register. With coaching and practice, singers can get around most of these awkward spots (ask Sinatra, who first found, then maintained, the sound he wanted by employing Mabel Mercer's "artifice" to achieve Billie Holiday's "naturalness," not to mention classical vocal training from Robert Merrill, along with numerous laps at both the track and the pool to build up his breath reserves!).This is the most "mature," most satisfying example of Eden's recorded work that I've heard--and the inclusion of jazz "star" Chris Potter on the session merely clinches the judgement. She's said to have finished an album of bossa nova standards, which may be good news for all followers of good music. (Whoever did the photographs of Eden for the cover art deserves special mention--wonder if he's available for my daughter's wedding.)"