Customer Reviews

Vigil

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I worked in the World Trade Center until September 11, so this CD has a special meaning for me.

As a fan of the NYC folk music scene since the 1960's, I was aware of Jack Hardy and the Greenwich Village Songwriter's Exchange long before the attacks killed his brother Jeff and brought about this CD. I've listened with pleasure to many of the products of the Exchange, as well as later work by the group's alumni(ae).

Since many of the tracks on the album were recorded in home studios rather than in professional recording studios, the audio quality of the tracks vary somewhat. However, the songs are of uniformly high quality, and the performances are all heartfelt and very fine, exhibiting the range of emotions that many of us experienced since September in ways that we found hard to express.

This CD is what the contemporary folk scene, at its very best, is all about.

In the ongoing conversation about 9/11, a friend mentioned this album. Some of the proceeds go to help families who lost someone. Since I hadn't found a favorite driving CD for some time, and it was a good cause, I picked this one up. The variety of styles by the artists listed made me wonder what was ahead. I didn't want to hear slick, I didn't want to hear 'it's all about me' ego. I scanned the first, the middle and the last tracks and every tune was distinct in style, all good, no slick, no ego. Then I played it all the way through. There is a song for each mood that comes from living through a nightmare day. Very thoughtful, consistent quality of lyric. The female vocalists are soothing but frank. The first track,"Firehouse," quietly jerks us out of the present and breaks our hearts all over again. It goes on from there. The CD in its entirety is soft music, not angry. It is sincere with clever verse and some melody, but get ready for tears the first time through. There is nothing maudlin about the music; it just speaks from the heart. "It Hit Home" is the everyman experience of loss of a neighbor and the tune sticks in the head all day. "Never Forget" makes you want to call a friend just to talk about life. The guy tunes are strong and concise about how we deal with reality in an aftermath of a day from hell. "A Well Dressed Man" and "On a Clear Day", "Communists" and Spoonfed," to pick a few, are all different, not as sympathetic as they are objective on how we get through grieving as a people. And there are more. Can't pick any favorites, they're all good. "When Mohammed came to the mountain" is the perfect end, verse, leaving the listener with dry eyes, sitting in silence, praying. The material on this CD is exactly what goes through our heads when we try to be "normal" again after an horrific loss. Now, each time I listen, and its easy to listen, I feel an incremental move toward closure on a day I will never forget. If you are looking for a sign of good in the human heart, this is it. I'm going to make this gift material for those who cry spontaneously when they pass memorial sites or read the news.

Imagine going over to a friend's house and they say, "Hey, I got this song about what happened on 9/11". Would you say, "No, I don't want to hear it", because it wasn't a fully 'produced' song? No, you would, of course, listen to it. Now imagine that your friend is a famous singer-songwriter, what power that would have in the simplicity.

These songs, many recorded in a simple voice-guitar pairing, are powerful and moving. This is especially true when you realize that they all knew somebody that died (Jeff Hardy, in particular). When Jack Hardy sings and you understand that it is -his- brother that he is refering to, it makes it real. When Suzanne Vega sings and you know that she planned to visit -her- brother at the WTC that day, it sends shivers down your spine.

These artist follow the great tradition of remembering major events in song, something that we shameful have moved away from. A.P. Carter and the Rye Cove cyclone is a prime example. Songs about the Galvaston Hurricane, battle songs, the list goes on. We have left this tradition. This group of 'folk' (the word means people) singers, have steered us back to songs that touch the heart and remember real history. None of the sticky sweet 'oops I did it again' pop that is like soda pop (empty calories). These songs are 'meat and potatoes' songs, they have real value and will 'stick to your ribs'.

The world was never the same after 9/11, even thousands of miles away we felt the pain..even amazement..of it all, as we saw the towers fall. Over and over again in the news.

Slowly the story unfolded, like some hollywood script, the heroism aboard United flight 93, the above and beyond the call of duty of the brave firefighters of New York. The jumpers. People running away from the falling debris. The clouds over Manhattan.

Even Norway was drawn in, for the first time at war since WWII, honouring the NATO pact.

Now for the cd.. It could easily have been a super-patriotic, ranting, almost hateful experience. It would have been understood, in the circumstances, but would then hardly had an audience outside the US. Nor an enduring life as music.

Instead we have a collection of poetic, very personal, yet trans-personal at their soul, collection of songs. The Greenwich Village Songwriter's Exchange has expressed so eloquently what so many experienced/though in the aftermath of 9/11.

Few of the artists was known to me before (Except Vega and Hardy), but it is clear that there is much talent behind all these names.

The arrangements are sometimes sparse. Rather than to diminish anything, this rather emphasizes the raw nerve of the songs. The intimacy of the experiences, transcending into the before mentioned trans-personality, will ensure that this will be a cd with a long life in my music collection.

It hit home.

Strong stark stuff. Different feels, grooves, reactions.

I resisted it for a bit, not wanting to listen, but I'm glad I did, because it's one more thing to move us, remind us, restore our humanity. The productions are simple, raw and real.

I get around the village clubs a bit the last few years, so there was pleasure in hearing some folks I've heard and who are fixtures, like Suzanne Vega and Richard Julian, Jack Hardy...

I guess everyone will have the one that gets to them....but mine was John Albrink's song "The Beauty of the Day". Something about his take on it....the day/moment's before, the vision of the type of day we may have either appreciated or taken for granted....it just radiates sadness and beauty at the same time.

I received Vigil two weeks ago and since than, I try to write my review. Difficult, not like write songs about, but difficult.
I appreciate the idea to not represent the tragedy from a politic, or even patriotic, point of view, being European, Italian, I would not understood. "It hit home" says Suzanne Vega, and so it has been also outside NYC, not like NYC.
The production, yes, is minimal, there is only the essence of the songs, the strong emotional power of the words. It's enough.
I love the songs of the songwriters that I know from long time, Suzanne Vega, Jack Hardy, Wendy Beckerman, and I've found others good songwriters. I've particularly appreciate Richard Julian.
Pain have not colour, race or nationality, when it hits you, what still remains to you? Here you can find some answers.

It's hard to know from what perspective to review this CD. If you are simply interested in good music by fine singer/songwriters, this is tastefully done, but I would agree with the first reviewer (who is uniformly bashed below for thinking this recording is imperfect). There are several breathtaking, amazing songs, including those by Lavin and Hardy, some really good songs, including those by Vega and Robinson, and some really weak material from other contributors. The simple production, mostly just guitar and voice, is appropriately tasteful. But no one is contributing their best material, and some of what is here is awful. I know the emotions behind every song are powerful and real, and there is much to be said for the immediacy of the project. But I think the three stars that first reviewer gave would be generous by purely artistic criteria. Few of these songs would have measured up to being put on a "regular" CD by any of these artists.

If you are fond of some or all of these singers, and want to feel the impact of 9/11 on (mostly) locals, this is the great 5-star recording everyone else thinks it is and then some. You aren't human if you aren't deeply moved by listening, if you make it through the first song with dry eyes. I agree with someone below who wrote that this is a CD to listen to a few songs at a time. Otherwise, it is almost too painful, and one begins to feel like a voyeur looking in on others' tragedies. As a former New Yorker, the music does hit home. And the profits do apparently go to a good cause, though the information on the sleeve is rather vague about that (a memorial fund for Jack Hardy's brother that will in turn be donated to a charity that will benefit his family).

I'm not sorry to have made the purchase, and not just because the profits may go to charity. But this material is uneven, ranging from breathtaking to embarrassing. It starts and ends powerfully, though, and there is much in between well worth a close listen in a quiet room.

I feel the CD is a good, solid tribute to the people who lost their lives in the WTC attacks. Though admittedly some songs are not as good as others, the whole CD deserves commendation for it's sincerity. The songs by Amy Marie Keller and Jack Hardy were especially moving to me, as well as several of the other songs(can't recall the author's names right now). I think this CD will keep the memories of everyone who died alive, at least in spirit.

Although I'm living a million miles away from New York, with the help of this cd I really learned more things about the effects of September 11th than anything that I've seen on tv. There are no disturbing sounds in this cd only pure music,vocals and poetry. This cd proved me that music is always the best way to express and understand feeling and emotions. I recommend it to everyone..

Suzanne Vega asked her fellow New York folk singers if they had written songs after September 11th. What she got in return is an incredible assortment of emotions, experiences, and expressions of pain and loss, hope and love. The sixteen artists who songs are included say what we all wish we could have. The profits go to supporting families of those lost, including the family of Jeff Hardy, the brother of musician Jack Hardy, who has two songs on the disk. This labor of love is a reminder of our shared humanity and the power of music to express it.