Customer Reviews

Little Garden

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Erin Bode is in upbeat mode on her fourth album, her debut CD for Native Language.
She has brought an intriguing variety of direct or indirect influences to the table, ranging from Norah Jones, Eva Cassidy, Nancy Wilson and Joni Mitchell.
While she has previously covered classic artists from the Great American Songbook, she has reverted here to new original songs in the adult contemporary, jazz oriented music category.
In fact she splits her CD between jazz, folk and pop, also including some selections that could be considered jazzy pop or pop-oriented.
Her songs are intelligent and subtle, while the musicianship of the players is impeccable.
"These songs are the culmination of what we've been working on for the past two years" says Erin. "On Over and Over, there was a lot of music that we wrote at a particular time of our life. Both Adam Maness and I had just met the people we were going to marry, so there were a lot of love songs. The songs on "The Little Garden" have more life situations, things you go through daily, and so it's a natural progression".
Erin has produced the album, working closely with her band (drummer Derrick Phillips, bassist (and husband) Syd Rodway and songwriting partner Adam Maness on piano, guitar, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer).
Special guest soloist John Ellis (tenor sax and flute) joins in.
Erin, apart from from having a distinctive, sultry voice, is aware of her capabilities and uses her voice like an instrument, which she blends perfectly with inventive work from long-time collaborators Maness and Rodway.
She does a superb job of co-producing -- from a delicate brush on the drums to the stabs of the brass, you can hear every precise detail in living stereo.
If at times a little knowing, this is a truly sophisticated (before that word was diluted through over-use) record of tenderness, humour and intelligence.

Those of us who live in the St. Louis area are lucky to be able to see Erin Bode and her talented band often. For those less fortunate, at least you can reap the benefits of their hard work. No doubt the superior renditions here are the result of these songs having been performed many, many times prior to recording.

Her first CD is very good, the second better. But this latest is the product of an artist who has definitely hit her stride, both as a performer and songwriter (credit and kudos also to pianist and guitarist Adam Maness who wrote or co-wrote all of the material excepting Paul Simon's "Born at the Right Time").

They may be singers better known, but none better. Treat yourself to this CD, then make your best effort to see Erin & Company live. You will not be disappointed by either.

The Erin Bode Band has done it again. At first I was not sure I prefered this album to their last one (both are superb), but I definitely heard a real maturation in the lyrics.

Bode's voice is as beautiful as ever and the band and album production are top-notch. It really is too bad not many people know of Erin Bode because they really are missing out on something special.

Bottom line is this one is well worth the money, and is the kind of CD you can just pop into your player and play from start to finish without worrying about any clunker tracks. My personal favorite on the album is the title track on the cover, but everything is good here.

Oh yes, after further review, this album *is* better than their last effort... and that is saying something. "The Little Garden" gets my highest recommendation.

Enjoy!

Erin Bode entered the public arena four years ago labeled a jazz singer, primarily because she was on a jazz record label. But, while she has an obvious grounding in the intricacies of jazz, she is really more of a singer-songwriter in the Carole King-Carly Simon-Joni Mitchell vein.

Her pianist and co-writer Adam Maness is an accomplished player with an economical style that enhances and undergirds Bode's light-as-a-feather vocal delivery. And she works wonders roaming across a wide emotional range with that girlish voice.

The duo's songwriting has a finely honed pop feel, complete with memorable melodies and catchy hooks. The album's opener, "New England Friends" is an excellent example, the piano grabbing your attention with its choppy intro and Bode's irresistible voice sailing through the song's shiver-inducing musicality.

The backing tracks are built around the singer's regular trio, with husband Syd Rodway on bass and drummer Derrek Phillips hunkering down behind the traps. But many of the songs are fattened up sympathetically with additional instrumentation---when a clarinet-bass clarinet-soprano sax chorus appears in "Sweater Song," the piece positively soars.

"Chasing After You" chases after a `70s vibe with its sweet Steely Dan electric piano stylings and acoustic guitar bed; "It's All Your Fault" begins as a slinky standup bass walk that grows into a jazzy piano figurine enhanced by some saxophonics straight out of the old Kingston, Jamaica studios. And the one non-original takes up where Bode's last outing left off--on Over and Over, she served up a glorious reinvention of Paul Simon's "Graceland;" here she burrows gently into Simon's "Born at the Right Time," drawing more meaning out of the lyrics than I knew was there.

Erin Bode, is a singer whose albums just keep getting better. Her third release knocks down the boundaries that artificially separate musical genres and styles.

copyright © 2008 Jim Newsom. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission

Originally published in Treehouse Magazine, 11/17/08

I'd never heard of Erin Bode before the local smooth jazz radio station here in Trinidad began playing 'Chasing After You' on the weekends. What a wonderful voice! Definitely one of the best CD's I've bought this year. The tracks on the CD may be an acquired taste to some, but once acquired you won't be able to stop listening for a long, long time.

Erin Bode has a great voice and a great group, and this album is good. What really gets me is the song "Sydney Come Down". I rush to the credits, sure to find Tony Banks and Paddy McAloon as co-authors, but no, it's you and Adam Maness: I'm floored.

As unlikely as it sounds, that song is a perfect blend of Genesis' piano arpeggios and chord changes, and Prefab Sprout freedom, climaxes, and poignant lyrics. I could go on listening to it for days on end. :-)

Thanks, Erin. Your personality enriches the fine tradition of Joni Mitchell, Emmilou Harris, Julia Fordham, Paula Cole and Norah Jones, to name just a few shiver-inducers.

Erin Bode's third CD is a strong follow up to her prior work. The CD is highlighted by strong songwriting and the continuation of wonderful harmonies backed up with tight musical arrangements.