Naked With Friends

Maura O'Connell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 16, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B00284G2IK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,520 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > Folk > British & Celtic Folk > Irish Folk

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Folk Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 16-JUN-2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naked EnCHANTress Casts a Spell on the Ears, June 1, 2009

By 

Despina Yeargin (Greenwood, South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked With Friends (Audio CD)

Maura O'Connell, a brilliant singer, has always had a strong voice and a skilled delivery. Her new CD, Naked With Friends, brings to the ears of a modern, fast-paced and high-tech world the simplicity and beauty of old-world music--singing without musical accompaniment. Maura gives us the luxury of listening to the naked voice, in the way of the chants of early church music; with the A-list of accompanying guest voices that she's assembled, Maura O'Connell enCHANTs the listener placing the focus on the naked voice and beautiful words of the 13 songs, from Janis Ian's "Some People's Lives" to the traditional "Ae Fond Kiss" by Robert Burns. Among the notable voices are Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Mary Black, Moya Brennan and dobro-wizard Jerry Douglas. If you don't shed a genuine tear after some of these songs, you need to take a long break by the lake. Sit on the grass under a tree, close your eyes and pay attention!

In the early 80s, Gregorian chant reached an impressive popularity. It was during that time, that I heard about Hildegard of Bingen, a nun, mystic and composer of music for the early church. Hildegard described herself as "a feather on the breath of God" A Feather on the Breath of God. Surely, Maura O'Connel's voice on this new recording has been guided along as a feather on the breath of God!

When a singer has a beautiful voice; when a talented singer knows HOW to sing, being unbound by the adornments of instruments and such, there appears a sparkling light in the sound, that we cannot hear at any other time.

Congratulations to Maura on a dream realized, and on a job beautifully and done. The woman who's always described herself as "just a singer" should be standing tall and proud now, just an amazingly wonderful singer.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A capella magic, January 7, 2010

By 

Michael P. Baker "Cyrano" (West, by God) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naked With Friends (Audio CD)

Maura gave a taste of this new album to her audiences when she toured in '09 and I was lucky enough to catch her when she graced the stage of Arlington's Birchmere. If you love her voice when it's surrounded by orchestration, you're in for a treat when she's stripped down bare and relying on the beauty of her voice (with the occasional blending of her friends' voices). The only thing missing is her on stage, "take no prisoners", funny - sometimes bawdy - diva persona. Can hardly wait until she's traveling through my neighborhood again this spring.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any Work By Maura O'Connell Worth A Listen, June 26, 2009

By 

D. Corbishley (Skillman, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naked With Friends (Audio CD)

She is SO good and does not release new recordings very frequently, so anything she does is worth a listen. After 1 listen, Danny Boy in Celtic was the song I remember most, because I had never heard it performed that way before. Great to hear her work with Mary Black, another favorite.