'Don't Smoke in Bed' (2002)
featuring
JANET SEIDEL - vocals/piano
KEVIN HUNT - piano
CHUCK MORGAN - guitar
DAVID SEIDEL - bass
ADAM PACHE - drums
and special guest
DON BURROWS - flute/clarinet/alto sax
Blues in the Night
You Do Something To Me
He's a Tramp
Things are Swingin'
Fever
Johnny Guitar
It Takes a Long Train with a Red Caboose
Black Coffee
Why Don't Ya Do Right?
I Don't Know Enough About You
Bella Notte/La la lu
Mr Wonderful
Bye Bye Blues
The Folks Who Love on the Hill
Street of Dreams
Don't Smoke in Bed
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
2MBS-FM Magazine 'Fine Music' - Kevin Jones
August 2002
Janet Seidel is on a high. She may have only walked into her unit in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe a few hours ago after returning from a successful 14-day tour of Japan with her trio, but the singer-pianist has plenty to be satisfied about.
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
Gold Coast Weekender - Barry Ralph
July 6-7, 2002
Janet Seidel is a music performer who has taken 20 years to become an overnight success.
The Sydney-based singer and pianist is without question the most successful jazz-influenced cabaret performer in Australia today, a marked contrast to the days when she earned a living as a high school teacher and freelance pianist.
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
Wentworth Courier - Richard Hughes
August 2002
'Jazz is where you find it' is a saying that dates back to the first of the last century. It is still applicable.
I found it last month on Lord Howe Island, where I heard Janet Seidel and her excellent group and I aquired her 10th and latest CD 'Don't Smoke in Bed'.
Sheer delight. it is a collection of 16 songs associated with Peggy Lee and is on the La Brava label.
'Fever' revolves around the powerful poised bass of David Seidel, who takes a bedazzling bowed passage at the end.
An excellent pianist, Janet who sings 'in the key of Peggy Lee' ( to quote the album's subtitle) plays only on Johnny guitar. And a very apt and moody piano it is behind Chuck Morgan who plays the sole (and soulful) accompaniment on 'the folks who live on the Hill'.
Don Burrows plays great punchy alto saxophone on 'It takes a long long train' and pianist Kevin Hunt shines on all 15 tracks he is on as a soloist or accompanist.'
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
AMG (All Music Guide) Expert Review - Dave Nathan
Lounge and cabaret performer and all-around ace singer Janet Seidel's Don't Smoke in Bed honors the important contributions of Peggy Lee to the vocal art. Australia's Seidel doesn't stop at entries from the Great American Songbook that Lee liked to sing, and includes her significant contributions to that document as a composer.
In addition to the title tune, "Don't Smoke in Bed," there are five more Lee pieces on the play list. Through her personal appearances and many recordings, Seidel is a virtual institution in that country down under.
This album is understandably somewhat jazzier - and a lot torchier - than her previous release, which was a nod to another one of her favorites, Doris Day. Thus, you have a swinging, lilting "Street of Dreams," a sassy "I Don't Know Enough About You," and a very smoky version of a Lee classic, "Black Coffee." Kevin Hunt and Chuck Morgan on piano and guitar, respectively, add just the right amount of the jazz feel for this cut, especially Morgan's intense, smoldering guitar.
Another interesting element added by Seidel and cohorts is that the songs are not just limited to Lee's big recordings, such as the always enduring "Fever," but those she sang in her early days with Benny Goodman and some from her movie work, such as the films The Lady and the Tramp and Johnny Guitar. As always, Seidel is backed by top musicians.
In addition to Hunt and Morgan, reed player Don Burrows is on a couple of cuts.
Her brother, David Seidel, carries on with his usual bass duties, helped along by Adam Pache on drums. Seidel by no means replicates Lee's way of doing this material, but presents it Seidel style. So this release offers the best of two worlds, literally: Peggy Lee and Janet Seidel.
Click here to read the original review.
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
The Sunday Telegraph
July 7, 2002
Janet Seidel has a new CD in the shops and it's scrumptious.
CD REVIEW - 'Don't Smoke In Bed'
SX Magazine Sydney - Paul Turner
September 2002
'Janet Seidel is for many the queen of the Sydney Jazz/cabaret circuit, and one listen to her latest CD offering (her 10th release) - a tribute to legendary jazz chanteuse Peggy Lee - will give you a good indication why. In a similar vein to her last foray into recording, the fabulous 'Doris and Me' (celebrating the music of Doris Day) Seidel doesn't attempt to mimic the vocal style and intonations of the diva she chooses to celebrate, rather through her own unique talents, she captures the essence of what made that diva unique. She manages to bring each of the 16 featured songs beautifully to life as Janet Seidel . and still capture the subtle nuances of the way Lee made a connection through her music.
The dusky sensuality blending innocence and desire, the perfect phrasing, the odd devilish kick, and of course the magical interplay between vocalist and ensemble- with her regular tight quartet given an added dose of sex appeal by the perfect timing of Don Burrows, adding flute, clarinet and alto sax to the atmospheric mix.
As always with Seidel's recordings, 'Don't smoke in bed' is also highlighted by a true live sensibility, which is a rare occurrence in contemporary music recordings, and an intimacy which can transport you right into the front row of the performance. As far as the repertoire goes, the set strikes a nice balance between tried and true signature tunes like ' Black coffee' and of course 'Fever' with several lesser known gems, several of which Peggy lee co-wrote including the atmospheric 'Johnny Guitar' theme song for the 1954 camp classic starring Joan Crawford'.
