'Charade' (2008)
Following 16 best selling vocal jazz albums from vocalist Janet Seidel, is this luxurious CD, “CHARADE” – The Henry Mancini Songbook – featuring Janet with piano great, Joe Chindamo. Both have won Australian awards for best jazz releases and that’s not all they have in common. They each have the rare distinction of having also topped the Jazz charts in Japan more than once, and this one, just released there has already been described by a Japanese critic as “jazz vocals MASTERPIECE”.
Track List
Dreamsville 4.11
Slow Hot Wind 3.26
Straight To Baby 3.31
Whistling Away the Dark 3.31
Days Of Wine and Roses 4.14
Charade 3.28
Nothing To Lose 3.57
Dear Heart 3.26
The Loss Of Love 2.33
Mr Lucky 4.49
Moment To Moment 6.28
Crazy World 6.11
(I Love You) Don’t You Forget it 2.24
Two For the Road 6.09
Janet Seidel – vocal,
Joe Chindamo – piano,
Chuck Morgan – guitar,
David Seidel – bass,
Fabian Hevia- drums/bongos.
Produced by David Seidel
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Following 16 best selling vocal jazz albums from Janet Seidel, is this luxurious new CD, “CHARADE” – The Henry Mancini Songbook just released in Australia. Each new album by Janet brings a fresh view of her uniquely cool and clear vocal artistry, and on this one the presence of piano master, Joe Chindamo, as featured sideman brings a further world class sophistication to the sound.
Henry Mancini wrote great songs, usually for movies, some very much of an era and others timeless masterpieces. Janet loves to find good songs to challenge her and this theme provided enough choices for two albums, so the list was culled to 14 tracks, ranging from Dreamsville "a love refrain for hipsters" to Two For the Road, Mancini’s favourite of all.
Recorded in just 8 hours at Sydney’s Studio 301 the finished CD consists almost entirely of first takes. Janet and her touring trio had sketched some arrangements of her choice of Mancini originals and Chindamo breezed in from Melbourne with no rehearsal and immediately established an almost telepathic rapport throughout the whole session. The all analogue recording by Richard Lush (one of the original Abbey Road engineers for artists such as the Beatles!) is certainly of audiophile quality, and the natural acoustic ambience is just right for the music.
Aside from Janet Seidel, Joe Chindamo must surely be the only other Australian artist to have reached No. 1 on Japan’s international Jazz Charts, with his popular piano trio CDs. Following this session Chindamo went on to the USA to tour with US jazz star and Grammy nominee, Karyn Allison.
Chuck Morgan and David Seidel tour and record regularly with Janet providing a deep, relaxed and soulful groove at all times. Morgan’s swinging jazz guitar style and quick ear is a perfect foil for Chindamo’s creative piano work and they do a miraculous job of always enhancing the music, often leaving an enticing spaciousness to frame the vocals. Fabian Hevia has also toured with Janet and his percussion work is a standout, especially the bongos which lend a mysterioso ambience to three of the tracks.
The CD was released first in Japan late in 2007 on the Tokyo based label Fab and has already been described by a Japanese critic as “jazz vocals MASTERPIECE”. Now regarded as one of Japan’s most popular Jazz vocalists, Janet will be touring Japan in May/ June 2008 along with legends Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin and rising US vocal star Roberta Gamberini, for Fujitsu Jazz Elite, one of Japan’s biggest jazz festival / concert tours.
