Customer Reviews

Shiny & New

5 star:		(4)
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I love the way Jonathan has taken some favorite songs from when we were growing up and given them a new life, a new interpretation, making them even more wonderful. Hearing "Raindrops" as a ballad lets you really hear the lyrics and gives the song new meaning...the gospel rendition of "Beautiful" gives my day a kick start. The up-tempo songs are a great addition to my workout mix and the ballads are touching and soulful. I love listening to his voice. Definitely tops my list of best buys!

If you grew up (or drove a car with a radio) in the 70s, this album should have a special place in your collection. Jonathan Rayson interprets classics with thoughtful introspection, exuberant energy, and a beautiful voice. Some of the arrangements are faithful renditions of the original recordings, while others take on whole new life with a change of tempo and spot-on backup vocals. Rayson's voice ties it all together with emotion, originality, and openheartedness. 'Listen to the Music' is fantastic!

When great arranging merges with great performances and is refined through great production, a truly notable recording results. Such is the case with Jonathan Rayson's Shiny and New. Rayson's voice is a subtle tenor, and his delivery is even, never forced, as if he prefers to caress a lyric rather than attack it. Shiny and New features covers of singer/songwriters classics from the 70's, including Billy Joel's "Summer, Highland Falls," the Carpenters' "I Need to Be in Love," Dan Fogelberg's "Part of the Plan," and Cat Stevens' "Oh Very Young." The best tracks feature a mesmerizing interweaving of Rayson's vocals and Dan Chouinard's perfectly arranged keyboards. Joni Mitchell's "River" and Bachrach and David's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" get such treatment and captivate the listener's ears. But not all the tracks are ballads. The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music" gets the upbeat, energetic treatment it deserves, as does Carol King's "Beautiful." All in all, the album is an example of great artists capturing the essence of great songs. Highly recommended!

Jonathan Rayson's stunning debut effort is much more than that. It is a masterpiece. Of course, he has choice material here to draw from, which makes his superb talent soar even greater. But Jonathan can take any page from the NYC Yellow Pages and bring us to tears with his sincere, sensitive and superb vocal and interpretive abilities. In essence, Jonathan Rayson is the Singer's Singer! You've got to get this CD. He has given us the definitive versions of these songs. 2 highlights (among many) are "Like A Sad Song" and "Rainbow Sleeves." He brings out more nuances, more depth and more tenderness than even the songwriters themselves could have imagined. Any composer with intelligence would be delighted to have Jonathan Rayson perform one of their songs. And any listener of fine popular music would be overjoyed to hear "Shiny and New," a collection of great 1970s songs from the dawn of the singer/songwriter era sung with such finesse. I sincerely hope you're getting one! I've gotten at least 10 so far!