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True talent in singers is rare. From my experience, less than 1% of all singers working today have real talent; the rest of them are trained. Many of them are trained very well, but that’;s not the same as something that comes from your soul. We have heard it. When Ella sang we could feel it. When Alison Krause sings we are moved. Not a soul alive will ever forget Art Garfunkel singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” When Barbara Cook sings “Losing My Mind” we remember it. When Brian Stokes Mitchell sings “How Glory Goes’ we can see God with him. And when Barbra Streisand sings, something magical happens inside us.
Having already known this and having given great reviews to many musicians who were expertly trained, I picked up a small CD by a new singer named Jason Gould. The disc has only five songs on it but they are remarkable. No. HE is remarkable. Jason Gould sings with the beautiful tone quality of art Garfunkel and the breath control and stylist ability of Barbra Streisand: subtle. Tasty.
Rare.
I’ll review the whole disc, but HE is the star, largely his singing. The man is able to make a single line last forever when other singers would have need to stop for a breath and then he maintains control of this until the moment HE decides to release it. His decorations are honest and natural and do not sound forced like so many singers out there and after the first piece I was thinking to myself that Jason Gould is the best singer I’ve discovered in the past 40 years. This is a great compliment from a professional musician who teaches voice, is a well known conductor and composer and a singer who would give ANYTHING to have this man’s sound. There’s a hint of Michael Franks. Some Al Jarreau. I already mentioned the remarkable head voice he manages from the bottom of his range to the top like Art Garfunkel, yet the man can also use full voice that doesn’t scream at you. I could- at no time at all- hear where his break is. His ability to sing makes it sound so easy, yet I sat in my car, volume all the way up and there was no wasted air. Not one tiny breath leaked out around the sound. Every single phrase was controlled by this man. He doesn’t sound trained, yet he sings as though he is. He understands breath control; he knows how to fill his lungs and utilize the air. It’s clear that he is relaxing every muscle in his body except his abdominals and then there is the acting.
Fifty percent of singing is the fact that you’re telling a story. Sondheim claims that every song is a one act play. Jason Gould makes us BELIEVE what he’s singing. He has some good acting chops and his resume shows it. (He played a strong secondary role in “The Prince of Tides” and several other parts). In short, when he sings he is singing to us, because he knows how to.
I will not pretend that there aren’t a few problems with the material. The first song- which is spectacular and moving- in my opinion is not finished, containing line after line of bad rhymes. We call them identities. “Takes” does not rhyme with “make”. Heart doesn’t rhyme with park. Many popular songwriters get away with this and a lot of the public doesn’t mind, (Listen to Billy Joel’s “Scenes From An Italian restaurant” where he rhymed “Prom” with ”on”) but the fact is that with a singer of this quality he is going to attract musicians. Jason Gould is a singer and composers’ singer; the finest musicians alive will be listening and scrambling to work with him and we are used to the lyrics of Sondheim, Paul Simon, Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco, Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Dorothy Fields. Lyric writing is a craft, it is not an art. It is math. And sometimes there are words we avoid rhyming and sometimes we AIM for the rhyme. When a word rhymes it really creates a spark in the mind of the audience. If it’s a near miss, some of us cringe. Look at this brilliant line by Stephen Sondheim (1985):
“The child is so sweet and the girls are so rapturous;
Isn’t it lovely how artists can capture us.”
Mr. Gould would do well to read Sondheim’s two books, “Finishing The Hat” and “look I made a hat”.
in act, I’d bet anything what once Sondheim has completed his current show he’d be more than willing to sit down with Gould’s lyric and walk him through it. Jason Gould is one of the FEW men on the planet for whom Sondheim could find the time to do this. But then the books would do it as well. I understand: my 24 year old daughter is following in my career and is not interested in using my connections and is sick and tired of being asked in auditions if she is related…
It’s a tough position in which to be in and it only occasionally works. Gwenyth Paltrow. Angelina Jolie. Charlie Sheen. Liza Minnelli. But Jason, you’re better than all of those people, you can relax. You may have your parents open some doors for you, but it will be YOU who keeps the doors open. And let’s face it, your folks will be honest with you. I promise that after the people listen to you sing just once, they won’t be thinking about your parents. I say this despite the ass I made of myself to Liza Minnelli when we met about how much I admired her mother. In my defense it was BEFORE I saw “Cabaret” and I knew nothing of “Flora The Red Menace.” And besides, you sing better than Liza AND her mother. (We were backstage on the elevator at the Uris Theatre and the very next time the door opened, this short haired, tiny woman- already a legend- scurried off and left Ron Silver to tell me who she was and what a fool I’d made of myself.)
But don’t judge him harshly. The music is spectacular- particularly the orchestrations. Keep your eye on this man and remember you heard it here first: Jason Gould is going to be a legend. He comes from good stock, but that’s best left aside because once you’[ve heard this recording you’ll understand that both his parents (who are in show business and quite famous) likely had nothing to do with the quality here; It’s all the hard work of Jason Gould.
Remember the name. Remember I told you so.
And not that it’s important, but he is damned good looking on top of it. It all adds up.
Jason Gould.
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Morning Prayer | 4:52 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This Masquerade | 4:56 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hello | 4:35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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How Deep Is the Ocean | 3:01 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nature Boy | 5:15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2014
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Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2014
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Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2014
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Top reviews from other countries
sarah prior
Jason Gould has the most beautiful voice and I really hope he brings out an ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2016Verified Purchase
les
His version of Nature Boy is amazing. Thankyou Mr Gould
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2014Verified Purchase
Rolo North Wales
Definitely an Album to keep !
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2016Verified Purchase
SMK1950
Beautiful voice tone
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2015Verified Purchase
Brian O'connor
JASON GOULD CD
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2014Verified Purchase
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