Bare Bones [PA]

Performer: Madeleine Peyroux
Producer: Larry Klein
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Following two acclaimed albums largely composed of covers and standards, mercurial jazz-pop singer Madeleine Peyroux has created her first album consisting entirely of original songs. Working with her longtime producer and bandleader Larry Klein, along with other co-writers including Steely Dan's Walter Becker, Joe Henry, and second-generation jazz guitarist Julian Coryell, Peyroux has done a remarkable job of maintaining the sound and mood of her earlier work. Highlights include the opening acoustic shuffle "Instead," a perky bit of affirmation that showcases Peyroux's startlingly Billie Holiday-like phrasing, while the atypically rough-edged "You Can't Do Me" takes a page from Cat Power's recent fusions of Memphis soul and indie rock desperation.

Entertainment Weekly (p.61) - "[I]t's interesting to hear that Victrola voice meet a more contemporary sensibility....[With] smart and emotional material." -- Grade: B Down Beat (p.80) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Peyroux still sings in dark colors, but she makes a conscious attempt to rise above mere melancholy with her lyrics and vocals." JazzTimes (p.96) - "[The] pleasure -- from the lonely chamber folk of 'Our Lady of Pigalle' to the sweetly barren jazz of 'Somethin' Grand' -- is all ours as Peyroux wheedles and piques the most from every lyrical phrase." Dirty Linen (p.62) - "Peyroux's voice continues to be the main attraction...it's mood now varies more widely, expanding the breadth of its emotional shading..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]he sings with deeper warmth and presence than ever before....With measured words balanced by easy, glowing grooves filled with Hammond, fiddle and her own sweet-spot acoustic rhythm." Paste (magazine) (p.64) - "Peyroux crosses over into full-fledged-songwriter terrain, penning or co-authoring all 11 tracks....The quality of her performance remains extraordinarily high..."

Madeleine Peyroux is helping to keep classic jazz vocals alive in the new millennium, and while her voice and delivery owe a supreme debt to the legendary Billie Holiday, Peyroux puts her own hip spin on Lady Day's musical tradition. As much an American version of Edith Piaf as a straight jazz singer, Peyroux interprets sorrowful songs by a host of artists across all genres, undauntedly tackling everything from "Careless Love" and "Lovesick Blues" to Leonard Cohen and Elliott Smith. She released her fourth full-length, HALF THE PERFECT WORLD, in 2006.

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