The Holy Grail revealed at last
Martin R. Jubb | N Carolina, USA | 01/31/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For years I have been watching the very occasional example of Catherine Howe's first LP disappear to Japan for anything up to $2000. The rarest of folk records never had reviews because it was too precious to play! But now, digitally remastered, the beauty of Catherine's young voice and poetry is revealed to everyone through the digitally remastered Numero production. The talents of Bobby Scott and the singer/writer of "Harry" combine folk and jazz into an unmissable romantic experience. Buy it now in case it disappears like the LP, heaven forbid!"
Lovely, melancholy English longeurs
William Timothy Lukeman | 01/09/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There was a certain sliver of time as the 1960s faded, tucked into the first 3-4 years of the 1970s before they actually became what we now call the 1970s. It was a time of gentle resignation, world-weariness, shot through with a yearning for something precious, something lost. It combined a wistful, self-aware naïveté & a somehow innocent sophistication, and it was particularly English.
The essence of that time is captured perfectly in Catherine Howe's long-lost debut album, "What A Beautiful Place." Her voice is that of a daydreaming child & a thoughtful, musing woman; her lyrics are elegiac; and her music is a haunting blend of pastoral, orchestral, and jazz. There's nothing big & brassy here -- it's muted, poignant, all piano, strings & woodwinds, drawing the listener in & inviting you to share a long, nostalgic, bittersweet autumn afternoon.
Both the song titles & the photographs convey this mood beautifully ... titles such as "On A Misty Morning," "Words Through A Locked Door," "It Comes With The Breezes." And the photographs ... the artist looking up from a typewriter, cigarette in hand, from the slipcase; standing on the flower-edged riverside in a long print dress, broad white hat in hand, on the cover; seated in a lonely monochrome meadow, under an umbrella, wearing a simple sweater ...
It's a time we all experience at certain points in our lives, a place we sometimes have to go, and this is the ideal accompaniment for it -- not to be missed!
"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1