Search - Maura O'Connell :: Naked With Friends

Naked With Friends
Maura O'Connell
Naked With Friends
Genres: Folk, International Music, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (13) - Disc #1

Grammy-nominated Maura O'Connell worked with co-producer Gary Paczosa on a concept she's carried in her heart for quite some time: an a capella album. "I've gathered the consciousness that singing should be just fine, tha...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Maura O'Connell
Title: Naked With Friends
Members Wishing: 4
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sugarhill
Original Release Date: 1/1/2009
Re-Release Date: 6/16/2009
Genres: Folk, International Music, Pop
Styles: Traditional Folk, British & Celtic Folk, Contemporary Folk, Europe, Britain & Ireland
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 015891401829

Synopsis

Album Description
Grammy-nominated Maura O'Connell worked with co-producer Gary Paczosa on a concept she's carried in her heart for quite some time: an a capella album. "I've gathered the consciousness that singing should be just fine, that it is a viable talent on its own," the singer says of the 13-song collection. Widely acclaimed throughout her career as a vocalist and interpreter of utmost grace and insight, Maura O'Connell's latest album is a defiant, boldly undiluted statement on art of singing. Naked With Friends consists of thirteen tracks of singing-and nothing more-and is decisive evidence that singing is more than enough.
 

CD Reviews

Naked EnCHANTress Casts a Spell on the Ears
Despina Yeargin | Greenwood, South Carolina | 06/02/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maura O'Connell, a brilliant singer, has always had a strong voice and a skilled delivery. Her new CD, Naked With Friends, brings to the ears of a modern, fast-paced and high-tech world the simplicity and beauty of old-world music--singing without musical accompaniment. Maura gives us the luxury of listening to the naked voice, in the way of the chants of early church music; with the A-list of accompanying guest voices that she's assembled, Maura O'Connell enCHANTs the listener placing the focus on the naked voice and beautiful words of the 13 songs, from Janis Ian's "Some People's Lives" to the traditional "Ae Fond Kiss" by Robert Burns. Among the notable voices are Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Tim O'Brien, Mary Black, Moya Brennan and dobro-wizard Jerry Douglas. If you don't shed a genuine tear after some of these songs, you need to take a long break by the lake. Sit on the grass under a tree, close your eyes and pay attention!



In the early 80s, Gregorian chant reached an impressive popularity. It was during that time, that I heard about Hildegard of Bingen, a nun, mystic and composer of music for the early church. Hildegard described herself as "a feather on the breath of God" A Feather on the Breath of God. Surely, Maura O'Connel's voice on this new recording has been guided along as a feather on the breath of God!



When a singer has a beautiful voice; when a talented singer knows HOW to sing, being unbound by the adornments of instruments and such, there appears a sparkling light in the sound, that we cannot hear at any other time.



Congratulations to Maura on a dream realized, and on a job beautifully and done. The woman who's always described herself as "just a singer" should be standing tall and proud now, just an amazingly wonderful singer."
Any Work By Maura O'Connell Worth A Listen
D. Corbishley | Skillman, NJ USA | 06/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"She is SO good and does not release new recordings very frequently, so anything she does is worth a listen. After 1 listen, Danny Boy in Celtic was the song I remember most, because I had never heard it performed that way before. Great to hear her work with Mary Black, another favorite."
A capella magic
Michael P. Baker | West, by God | 01/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maura gave a taste of this new album to her audiences when she toured in '09 and I was lucky enough to catch her when she graced the stage of Arlington's Birchmere. If you love her voice when it's surrounded by orchestration, you're in for a treat when she's stripped down bare and relying on the beauty of her voice (with the occasional blending of her friends' voices). The only thing missing is her on stage, "take no prisoners", funny - sometimes bawdy - diva persona. Can hardly wait until she's traveling through my neighborhood again this spring."