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Jane Monheit - Surrender
- Jane Monheit has a lilting voice and has been called a young Barbra Streisand. Her album, Surrender, has romantic ballads and duets with greats like Sergio Mendes and singer Ivan Lins and harmonica player Toots Thielemans. Her vocals echo sweetly as they linger on each track, every one a sensual tone.
“If You Went Away” opens with a grandiose melding of sterling piano work from Mendes and Michael Kanan, percussion play from Paulinho Da Costa and Mike Shapiro, tuneful woodwind work from Gary Foster, Joseph Stone and James “Jim Daddy” Walker. The track also has resplendent harp play that is interwoven from Gayle Levant. Monheit's voice aches with need as she emotes a plea for her beloved to fathom just how deeply her love runs for him, with lines like, “Oh if I could just make your heart understand the way I feel when I’m holding your hand. My world is safe and it’s worth living for. Even more, with you. I’ve learned to treasure each moment of time.”
On the title track, Monheit croons about foregoing the day to day burdens of life and seizing the joy of being with the one you adore, with lines like, “Never mind the dishes piled high in the sink. Never mind the weather or the work day…Let’s be still…Go on and lose yourself for just a little while.” Monheit’s invitation to let go is aided by more guitar work from Ramon Stagnaro, Mike Okazaki, soothing percussion play from Da Costa and Shapiro, and Mendes and Kanan tickling the ivories.
On “Rio De Maio,” Monheit is joined by Lins in her vocal stylings. They croon in Spanish and in flawless synchronization. The sultry rhythm of the song is accompanied by acoustic guitar work from Okazaki, jazzy percussion play from Da Costa and Shapiro and a more intense tone is brought from the acoustic bass play from Dave Carpenter and Orlando LaFleming.
Monheit does a cover of the Mendes song, “So Many Stars,” which listeners can turn up as they cuddle with their sweetheart, look up at the sky and contemplate the infinite possibilities of life. The light drumming from Shapiro and Rick Montalbano brings some depth to the song. Mendes lends his keyboard playing skills, and he also arranged and produced the track. A warm classical bend is utilized through the violin play of Bruce Dukov, Darius Campo, Assa Drori, Ronald Folsom, Miran Kojian, Katia Popov, Anatoly Rosinsky, Margaret Wooten, Tamara L. Hatwan, Johana Krejci, Phillipe Levy, Irina Voloshina, Rebecca Bunnell, Ana Landauer, Lisa Dondlinger, Raphael Rishik, Dynell Weber, Robin Olsen and Yue Deng. In between this brilliant amalgamation of instrument play, Monheit emotes about unparalleled fantasies and inquiries about the wonders of one’s existence, with lines like, “So many dreams, which one is mine? One must be right for me, which dream of all the dreams when there’s a dream for every star?…Oh so many stars, so many stars.” You can feel the irresistible pull of Monheit’s voice as she gives listeners a glimpse into her imagination.
Jane Monheit’s Surrender beckons listeners to do just what the title is asking. To submit to this songbird is to experience the true meaning of love everlasting and love longed for.
Reviewer: Sari N. Kent
new
Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 7.00
Reader's Votes: 1
Added: 28-Apr-2007
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