Customer Reviews

Band of Angels

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Occassionally in life something unexpected yet wonderful occurs. Finding the music on this CD was one of those events for me. I never heard of Jessica Ruby Simpson aka Jessica Radcliff until I stumbled, by accident, upon Band of Angels. Her voice, her phrasing, her poetry, her musicality and absolute originality place her well beyond most of her comtempories of the same genre. All of the musicians on this CD are amazing. I found a treasure when I stumbled upon this CD.

I have never been well-educated about folk music, but this CD makes me want to change that. The female vocalist has a husky, swallowed voice that, at first, put me off. As I continued to listen, however, her unpolished voice added an approachable quality to the music. The over-all tone of the CD is mellow and nostalgic. I get a very "overcast autumn afternoon" feeling when I listen. The social-conciousness messages and accoustic arrangements seem standard for the genre. The versatility of the group, though, was surprising. From playful and child-like to tearful and tired, from mythological history to photo journalism (and covering at least two languages), the songs are anything but cookie-cutter. In fact, I reserve the fifth star simply because I don't know a lot about this type of music, so I have no strong basis for comparison.