Restless Willow

Stevie Holland | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 2004)
• Original Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 150 Music
• ASIN: B00030N48M
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #453,460 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. It Might As Well Be Spring

2. Love Is Stronger Far Than We

3. Summertime

4. How Long Has This Been Going On?

5. One Touch

6. Sunny Skies

7. Lush Life

8. Jeg Elsker Dig

9. Here's That Rainy Day

10. Zoot Walks In

11. Stardust

Editorial Reviews

RESTLESS WILLOW is a frolicky, swinging album from Stevie Holland. Arranged and orchestrated by Gary William Friedman, this collection of classic jazz standards, special and original material reveals Stevie's solid vocal abilities - as well as her ability to deliver a ballad with pure, emotional honesty. Stevie is backed by some of today's finest jazz musicians including Kenny Washington on drums and David "Fathead" Newman on sax and is joined by singer Rubén Flores on the duet "One Touch".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Towering, Restless Willow!, November 2, 2004

By 

N. L. Wolfe (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Restless Willow (Audio CD)

Stevie Holland is destined be recognized as one of the greatest vocalists of our time. "Restless Willow", her third recording and second of songs from the Great American Songbook proves that she has a solid ability to interpret time-worn material in completely original, refreshing ways. She has brilliant jazz chops that swing out wildly on tunes like "Summertime", "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Zoot Walks In". Then she turns around and unleashes powerful emotion with a gorgeous, rich, warm voice on songs like "Love Is Stronger Far Than We" (a rarely recorded song I've loved for many years by Francis Lai from the film "A Man and A Woman"), "Lush Life" and "Here's That Rainy Day". Also on this CD is a sexy duet with Rubén Flores co-written with composer Gary William Friedman and a heavenly love song that Holland and Friedman developed from Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg's "Jeg Elsker Dig"! Stevie Holland has taken me on one of the most exquisite musical journeys in recent memory with "Restless Willow".

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Lady Knows Her Way Around Songs!, October 26, 2004

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Restless Willow (Audio CD)

Stevie Holland in her newest (and most refreshing) CD RESTLESS WILLOW proves that she has only tickled the surface of a vast repertoire of popular music for the voice in her previous recordings. She has a well focused vocal technique that is as comfortable in breezy scat/fluffy songs (`Zoot Walks In') as she is in `operatic' melodies (Gershwin's `Summertime', sung as the jazz form Gershwin only dreamed), standards such as `How Long Has This Been Going On?' with the neglected opening verse reinstated, torch songs like `Stardust', and finessed segues (`Here's That Rainy Day' preluded with `Soon It's Gonna Rain' from The Fantasticks). Simply said, every note and song Stevie Holland elects to interpret becomes completely her own, and the degree of style and comfort this amazing artist achieves in this rather broad repertoire is more than satisfying - it is amazing! Of course it helps to have the arrangements and orchestrations by Gary William Friedman who can make a very small ensemble of instruments sound like full orchestral backing. Highly recommended for ALL music lovers.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Summertime and the living is easy, October 26, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Restless Willow (Audio CD)

Imagine a warm -- but not too warm -- summer evening in a lantern-lit flower garden. That's the air of Stevie Holland's "Restless Willow" -- a soft, languorous jazz album that highlights Holland's smooth vocals and good choice of old and new songs.

Light percussion and an airy flute kick off the playful "It Might As Well Be Spring," a fun little melody that eases listeners into the slightly heavier songs. A sadder, more dignified tone comes in with the rich "Love is Stronger Far Than We," sensuous "How Long Has This Been Going On?", and the soaring duet with Ruben Flores, "One Touch."

But that sunny, catchy sound comes into the strummy "Summertime," playful "Sunny Skies," and the horn-augmented "Zoot Suit." The last half of this album is made mostly of gently sad ballads, finally climaxing in the poignant, restrained guitar blues of "Stardust."

The jazz-cabaret sound of Stevie Holland's voice is definitely suited to the songs here -- George Gershwin, Sinatra, Hammerstein, Tom Jones. Not to mention Holland herself and her husband/collaborator Gary William Friedman, who wrote the music for a few of these songs as well as producing and conducting.

Piano is the most prominent instrument in this album, save Holland herself. But it is a muted, softened sound as it trips along lightly behind her, backed by some solid, soft percussion, airy strings, and a tempo that stays mellow most of the time before bursting into a playful little tune.

Holland's voice is rich, smooth and soulful, gliding through the array of songs with apparently no effort; in "One Touch," she is paired with the soaring vocals of Ruben Flores. And the songs she wrote herself, "One Touch" and the sparkling "Jeg Elsker Dig" (translation: I love you) are not quite as well written as the covers, but taken alone they are truly excellent.

Stevie Holland's "Restless Willow" is a pretty, laid-back album of jazz/cabaret music, uniformly solid and full of fun and melancholy.