Concert & Published Reviews

Bruce Crowther, writer for 'Jazz Journal International'

reviewed all of these CDs:
Janet Seidel - The Way You Wear Your Hat (La Brava LB 9801)
Janet Seidel - Comme Ci, Comme Ça (La Brava LB 0033)
Janet Seidel - Doris & Me (La Brava LB 0038)
Janet Seidel - Don't Smoke In Bed (La Brava LB 0050)

He said: 'Although this exceptionally gifted Australian singer draws her repertoire largely from the Great American Song Book, she also loves French songs and that predilection makes itself apparent here.
The first of these CDs is a double, a studio recording and a live concert - the latter recorded at the Art Gallery of South Australia during an exhibition of all things French.

The second CD takes the French connection several steps further as Janet deftly shapes her selection of songs into jazz works without ever losing any of their original intrinsically Gallic flavour. Her accompanists include her brother, David Seidel, who, in addition to playing bass, is co-owner with Janet of this record company.

Over the years, Janet has widely and happily acknowledged some of her inspirators and she pays tribute to two of them with the second pair of CDs. As the album titles make clear, they are Doris Day and Peggy Lee. Far too original and honest to fall into the trap of copying, Janet draws on repertoire rather than vocal sound, although here and there are astute hints of stylistic awareness.

The first of these sets is actually Janet's similarly titled cabaret show and she also plays piano, zipping through 31 songs in a beatifully relaxed yet rhythmic manner, the two ingredients one most associates with Day.

As just a glance at the song titles on the fourth CD indicates, Lee placed her indelible and magical mark on many songs: 'Black Coffee', 'He's A Tramp', 'Fever', 'I Don't Know Enough About You', 'Mr Wonderful', 'The Folks Who Live On The Hill', 'Street Of Dreams'. It is a measure of Janet's skill, sincerity and admiration that during her performance it is to her own interpretations of these wonderful songs that all attention is drawn.

Throughout, Janet is backed by instrumentalists who collectively and individually vividly demonstrate the great jazz strengths that lie in Australia. Only infrequently, so far, has Janet played outside Australia and the Far East; hence her audience in the UK and the USA is not as large as a singer with her talent deserves. A forthcoming tour of Europe will help change that, as will listening to these or any other of the excellent CDs she has made.'