Customer Reviews

People Behave Like Ballads

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reviewers are soon going to exhaust the right words to describe this album -- 16 songs, an ambitious effort that in the old days would have been a double album. The first seven or eight songs are incredible. My attention drifts a bit after that, but the second group is growing on me, especially the final two songs.
However, I think this record is best appreciated as a sort of continuum, rather than picking out individual songs. More than a lot of records, this one takes you to some transfigured, dreamlike place. A middle earth. It feels like Rebecca Martin is picking up on the feeling of older music...old Irish and English ballads, where the words and music are one. You feel like you should listen to this next to a crackling fire, or in some moonlit glade.
Her voice is wonderfully warm, full, and expressive. The musical arrangements create a gorgeous setting, sometimes jazzily ambitious and recalling Gil Evans, at other times very simple and understated.
I found Rebecca Martin by following a trail of discovery from Norah Jones to Jesse Harris to Once Blue, and now here...and am very glad I took the journey. Beautiful stuff!

The use of dream-like stances and imagery is common in music. From the dream sequences in Mozart's operas to the school of Impressionism (Ravel, Debussy); a lot of music has been cloaked in imagery and designed to expose the senses to the emotion within the work.

On People Behave Like Ballads, Rebecca Martin has a open-hearted and warm approach to her playing. She's not angry, mad, overjoyed, or sad; she's like an angel singing the song of your life: very soft, like a subtle dream. Her music is best understood by the poetry she sings and the peaceful presentation of all her work.

Here's the question: will YOU like this album? Well, let me first interject that MAXJAZZ Records has definately presented jazz on the boundary with this album. The album barely has horns, no hard drumming, and the bassist almost 'anti-swings'. What kind of jazz is it? Think one name: Joni Mitchell. The first time I heard this album, I started thinking about Hejira. The combination of folk-style lyrics and jazz-influenced riffs combine for a very personal and emotional look at this up-and-comming artist.

So, with this I say this album is great. Why not 5 stars?? Well, Ms. Martin is not trying to record some popular masterpiece of sound; this is artwork best appreciated by a few. It may touch you at your soul. You might go into a trance of emotion; however, keep in mind that you are trying to understand her message and she's wants you to know what it was and how it felt. This is not a stellar album (like the Pop Top 40); this is a delicate and rare piece of sound art best experienced personally by you with an open mind and a open heart.

To be short, DON'T BUY IT WITHOUT AN OPEN HEART....YOU WON'T GET IT.

I saw Rebecca Martin in January, and I've quickly become a staunch fan. Her exquisite melodies and poignant insights are breaths of fresh air. I'm impressed by her poetic lyrics, her surprising phrasings, and her gentle but confident voice.

This was the first time in along time I've paid full price for a CD just so I could get her to sign it at an in-store appearance. She was friendly, and we chatted for a few minutes. She is as warm as her music--she is a true delight.

P.S.: Norah who?

I don't expect to hear a richer, more direct album of popular song this year. Rebecca Martin achieves the ideal mix of sweetly poised vocal with crystalline arrangements for a collection of songs as joyfully of-the-moment as they are timeless. This is music that enriches as it illumines. Melody lives!

Nuanced, finely honed, crafted songwriting, sung with equal aplomb. A shimmering jewel of a record.

When you can listen to and enjoy every song again and again you've got to think there is something very special going on.

No slight to Norah, but Rebecca (who once played with Jesse Harris- the man who wrote most of Norah's breakthrough album) is indescribable. More so in that Rebecca wrote all 16 songs on
this CD. The range of emotions on this album make you happy, sad, inspired, and reflective to name a few. Lyrics such as "In a world where nobody seems to be thinking, keep your thoughts warm and forgiven - then you know you're turning the corner", and
"Late again, what's the hurry then? - sometime's mother knows best. The days begun, live it like your last one" and "I
remember you in the city with yellow hair and moon white skin, singing songs that brought the house downm forgiving for
whatever mood you'd be in-you could count on it" truly bare
her soul. Rebecca Martin is a force to be reckoned with - I
hope her breezy opening number "Lead Us" gets a lot of airplay. This is what I call a trascending recording in that it "transecend" all realms of music - you don't have to be a jazz fan to enjoy this.