In the Sun

Jane Monheit | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 17, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Encoded Music
• ASIN: B00006G99J
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,705 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't shoot the messenger - but this is the weakest of her 3, July 13, 2003

By 

Frank Garon (Breinigsville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Sun (Audio CD)

First, let me say that I LOVE Jane.

I've listened to her first two Cds over and over and over and over and...

But this one, Oy Vey...

Maybe it was the pressure to avoid being "pigeonholed" or something, but this one just does NOT do a thing for me.

I love her voice, she really could sing the phone book and make it sound good. But where is the "More Than You Know" or "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" on this one???

I listened to this one ONE time and put it away for 6 months. I just took it out again, on the off chance that I was maybe too passioniate about her first two to judge this one properly...

Sorry to say, but I just don't dig this one anywhere near as much as her other two. Maybe it IS because the first two were so powerful, so amazing, I don't know...

I WANT to like this one, I really do. But I am 8 tracks into an 11 track CD and I only count 2 "keepers". I feel like a traitor, but I just can't recommend this one anywhere close to her first two.

Hanging my head, and hoping her next one goes back to being awesome,

Frank

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Sun, September 20, 2002

By 

leftypockets "leftypockets" (Boston , MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Sun (Audio CD)

What can you say? Ms. Monheit has dropped down on us as a fully developed talent capable of singing anything she wants with a sense of total ease. Sold-out at Tanglewood Jazz show last summer ( only her and Sonny Rollins ). Been at Boston Symphany Hall with the Boston Pops for a taped PBS special, 3 CD's, 2 cuts on Les Browns big band, played for a week at the Village Vanguard this summer. Terance Blachard's CD 2 cuts with three other jazz singers.... oh yeah she just turned 25.
Her version of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You is so close to the original that it is hard to tell them apart. (And I've heard them both sung live) Love Has No Pride on this album is equal to the version by Linda Rondstadt. Sentimental Journey on Les Browns Jr.'s Session 55 CD is the best I've ever heard. Her vocal clarity, honesty to the original score (except for the scat at the end), and the fact that it was a live one-take in front of the band at the Capital Studio sound stage shows her versatility and talent.
On stage she is approachable, fun loving, coquettish, a tease, obviously enjoys performing and takes more liberties and is relaxed similar to Diana Krall's style. You don't get much of that on her CD's. Live, she acknowledges that he tries to keep to the original composers intent. However, even doing that she delivers a vocal lesson unmatched by any current widely known artist. Hear her sing three notes on the word "the" without pretense or ackwardness. Unbelievable! Almost every syllable is sung.
After a concert, I asked her about the lack on a Grammy nom. She told me she missed by 2 votes last year. But if she won one in the future she would appreciate it more... no diva here, just talent.
In The Sun features her best selection of songs yet; she went to Brazil this year and loved it - so why not a little Brazillian? She just makes it seem so easy; its like Mike Jordon or Barry Bonds, they're at one level and everyone else plays the game differently. Buy this CD or not, I've got mine and tickets to her show at Harvard this November.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A gifted singer, July 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Sun (Audio CD)

This is not a bad recording, but certainly suffers in comparision to her two earlier efforts, especially "Come Dream With Me" which raised the bar high enough that anything less afterwards suffers disproportionately by comparision. Perhaps this is also part of the reason for all the negative comments here. That Monheit is a tremendous talent is plainly obvious just by listening to her. It's been said that she has yet to find her own voice and style and, given her young age, this is probably true.

As for the recording, I have mixed feelings. There are no songs here that made me sit up and take notice like, say, "Blame it on my youth" did in the second cd. That said, I have become very fond of some of the songs, especially "Tea for Two" which Monheit sings with real pathos and makes the somewhat silly lyrics sound affecting. Also noteworthy are the Leonard Bernstein song "Some other time" as well as the great Rogers and Hart tune "It never entered my mind."

Bottom line: Monheit is a young and extremely talented singer who needs time to grow into a great artist. She is much younger than Diana Krall and to me, a different singer altogether in style. So I'm not sure all the comparisons are valid. Another young singer often mentioned in the same breath is Norah Jones. While Jones' cd is pleasant enough to listen to for a little while, I soon grew tired of it, whereas with this I continue to find time to savor Monheit's voice and, in the process, be moved by the feelings she invests in her singing. To me, that's the true measure of a gifted singer.