Customer Reviews

Last Quarter Moon

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chiara has a very pleasant and beautiful voice. However, if this review were based only on her voice, I'd probably give her 4 stars. The fifth star is for her songwriting and song selection, which along with her smooth, pleasant voice far surpasses the current crop of superstar female nursery rhyme performers with their mechanical, childish melodies and canned music.
Chiara's music has substance. It's organic. On listening to it, one hears talent--real people with real instruments. There is a sophistication and musical charm that can only be achieved by a talented singer/musician... which Chiara Civello is. I look forward to her next works.

Chiara Civello is a new musical force to be reckoned with and her debut CD is a must have for those who want to get on this bandwagon early. Though some reviewers want to compare her to others, the wondrous thing about Chiara is that her voice and her talents are unique. Her songs, most of which she's written herself, are a beautiful mix of jazz and pop with an international flavor that demands serious attention. Her voice is strong, beautiful and her styling lyrical and unpretentious. I have been lucky enough to see her perform in small clubs a couple of times and she is dynamite in person! The best part is that she is only just getting started and you sense that the best is yet to come. Don't miss this CD!

This is the best new voice in 2005. Period. And she has an amazing composing talent - check the beautifully intricate melodies and an underground rhythmic energy, coming from brasilian as well as swing and mediterranean suggestions, that never fail to move you. This album will seriously make you fall for its grace and passion.

I first became aware of Chiara Civello when I listened to her sing Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" on Jason Miles' "What's Going On" CD. I can not tell you how many times I just played that song over and over and over again.

Chiara Civello's genius is her ability to put all her heart and soul into a song.

I picked this up because I heard a duet she did with Juan Luis Guerra and fell in love with her voice. This disc cemented that feeling - she's versatile and her voice is warm and wonderful.

Excellent instrumentation and vocals. Chiara Civello sings with heart and soul. I tend to enjoy and buy music that you can feel, this satisfies my appetite. The only thing that I found a little disappointing was that the album did not include English lyrics for those songs which were sung in Italian, therefore I could not fully enjoy those songs in comparison to those she sung in English. Other than that one drawback, I would highly recommend this album to anyone who appreciates music within the jazz genre.

Listened to her at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. She was awesome live, but CD didn't really meet expectations.

This is an impressive debut record. It is very well and carefully made and very thoughtful and I like it more I listen to it. I would recommend it to anyone. I don't like comparisons like those made above in other reviews, but to answer I think she has more talent than Norah Jones, and although probably not quite as accomplished a pianist as Krall, has a lot more going on vocally, particularly when she sings in languages that are more natural for her. Also recently saw her at the Rochester Jazz Festival. She is very talented and highly charismatic. She sings even better in Italian and Portugese than in English. There she did a few covers of others' tunes, such as Joni Mitchell's and also did very well with those. I hope she keeps a strong jazz and brazilian influence. That is absolutely her strong suit, and I think that will be her ticket to stand out. She is very naturally musical as a singer/writer. If the record companies can resist the temptation for too much immediate hype/fad and keep focused on her as a talented musician and singer who can communicate emotionally very well, she will go very far on an international level for the long haul.

My attention to this album was drawn by the yellow sticker on the plastic, covering the c.d. case:

A STUNNING DEBUT FROM POP/JAZZ SINGER-SONGWRITER CHIARA CIVELLO:

"This record is haunting and she's fantastic. It really doesn't matter what she's singing about because her voice just captivates you. And 'The Wrong Goodbye'-HOLY COW-did she write that?"-Cindy Lauper

"This record is delicious. Chiara is potentially a huge singer-songwriter star...."-Burt Bacharach.

"...The best jazz singer of her generation."-Tony Bennett

With hype like that, I was intrigued. Is it worth all of that?

In a word, hellno.

Don't get me wrong; this is good. Chiara Civello has a strong, pleasant voice. Best jazz singer of her generation, though? Depends on how you define the word "generation", but I wouldn't say that right now she's as good as Norah Jones, Jane Monheit or Peter Cincotti, and all of them would have to be in the same generation. Her voice occasionally cuts out in her upper register, and she doesn't yet have the vibrancy in her lower register that "the best of her generation" should have. Fantastic songwriter? I'd give that label to Lorraine Feather or Rene Marie; but not to Ms. Civello, at least not at this time.

On this album, I'm partial to the tunes done in her native Italian, particularly "Ora" and "In Questi Giorni". And the arrangements are very nice, especially Suzanne Vega's "Caramel."

But ultimately, this album really reminds me of Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me." For this kind of hype, and with Verve's p.r. abilities, it ought to sell a bunch; and like Ms. Jones, Ms. Civello appears to have physical charisma. But both albums are well-done and pleasant, but ultimately fluffy. They both have been relegated to the "gone and almost forgotten" side of my c.d. carousel.

However, I will say that Chiara Civello has talent. She could become a superstar. I just hope that that happens based on developed talent, rather than on hype. RC