A Quiet Eye

June Tabor

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 11, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Green Linnet
• ASIN: B00003O9J5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,784 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #31 in	Music > Indie Music > New Age > Celtic
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A Quiet Eye finds British singer June Tabor continuing to explore the "chamber-folk" avenue she first ventured down with 1992's Angel Tiger. Backed by the Creative Jazz Orchestra, Tabor puts her smoky, evocative alto in service of an assortment of traditional tunes ("The Water is Wide"), pop standards ("I'll Be Seeing You"), and contemporary material, including Richard Thompson's "Waltzing for Dreamers" and "Pharaoh." The one-time Silly Sister's taste for minor-key melodies--in tandem with Hum Warren's lush arrangements dominated by piano, reeds, and brass--creates a somewhat gloomy but warm ambiance that makes A Quiet Eye apt rainy-day listening, à la Marianne Faithfull's Strange Weather and Mary Coughlan's After the Fall. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellence Continues, January 21, 2000

By	"arnienuvo" (Jackson, MI United States) - See all my reviews

Once again, June Tabor puts together a startling collection of songs old (some very) and new. This collaboration with the Creative Jazz Orchestra is her best outing since "Angel Tiger." From the richly textured and pulsing arrangement of Richard Thompson's "Pharaoh" to the quiet acapella version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Tabor's haunting and emotional vocals soar with grace like the best storyteller. Highly recommended for both fans and first time listeners.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven and down a step, July 14, 2000

By	J. C Clark "eanna" (Overland Park, KS United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love June Tabor. Not a lot of those I have forced her upon share that passion. So, this review is for the authentic fan. I think this CD weaker than many others. It sounds the same, has the familiar husky vocals and sultry arrangements, but just not grab viscerally as her best work does. Think "No Man's Land" or "The Great Valerio". If you have to have everything, go ahead. If you're wondering, Aleyn is a much more intersting disc.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not her best, October 12, 2003

By	cammykitty "cammykitty" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

I love June Tabor's music. I've seen her in concert three times and it is always an incredible experience. She has a gift for bringing voice and power into traditional and modern folk songs. But this album isn't her best. If you are new to her music, I'd start with any other album except for "Some Other Time." I think "Some Other Time" has vanished off the face of the earth, but if you find it used somewhere, don't fall for it. It's good music, Monk tunes etc, but she hadn't figured out how to bring life to Jazz and blues back then.

The odd/interesting thing about Quiet Eye is the mix of folk with Jazz. As one of the professional reviews mentioned, this is nothing new for her. She's been experimenting with Jazz for a long time. Angel Tiger and Aleyn has a lot of the feel and instrumentation that Quiet Eye has, but they did it better. It isn't the blending with Jazz that is the problem.

My first impression of Quiet Eye was a disappointment, but after spending more time with it, I've changed my opinion. I'm very happy I have it. Most of the songs are wonderful. However, the first few songs don't cut it. The second song, Place Called England, sounds like it should be sung by Billy Bragg with a lot of biting commentary added in. Sure June has sung Billy Bragg's songs before and made something incredible and unBragglike out of them, but Place Called England doesn't quite work. Not musical enough. Not clever enough.

The rest of the album though is up to her standards and well worth getting if you've already got everything else by her.