Rickie Lee Jones - Traffic from Paradise

"Just give me many chances ... time to learn to crawl," sings Rickie Lee Jones on this, her fifth album of new material in 14 years. Clearly, she's had a lot of chances already, and some have paid off big, notably her first two albums, Rickie Lee Jones and Pirates. Here, however, Jones has made a record of what sound like rough performances of musical ideas that might at some point become songs and then, with some work, acceptable recordings. As it is, the record is vague and unfocused, only aspiring to coherence when someone other than the singer/songwriter/producer is heard from, such as on the two songs co-written by Leo Kottke. Too much of the time, Jones sounds like she's singing half-forgotten songs in the calm aftermath of an all-night party, and the result is wispy and fragmentary, even when, on David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel," you know there's a real song in there somewhere. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Name Credits Alex Acuña Drums, Conga Bobby Bruce Violin Brad Dutz Udu, Marimba, Bodhran, Percussion, ? Brian Setzer Vocals (Background), Guitar (Electric) Dary Sulick Engineer David Baerwald Guitar (Electric), Vocals (Background) David Hidalgo Guitar (Electric), Guitar (8 String), Vocals (Background) Dean Parks Guitar (Electric) Doug Lyons French Horn Earl Martin Engineer Efrain Toro Percussion Jim Keltner Drums Joe Gruvtek Seta Engineer John Cutcliffe Associate Producer John Leftwich Cello, Vocals (Background), Guitar, Director, Bass Julie Last Mixing, Engineer Leo Kottke Guitar, Guitar (12 String), ?, Vocals, Slide Guitar Lyle Lovett Vocals (Background) Mark Guilbeault Engineer Marnie Riley Engineer Rickie Lee Jones Producer, Bowed Dulcimer, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, ?, Mandolin Sal Bernardi Vocals, Guitar (Acoustic) Stephen Krause Engineer Syd Straw Vocals (Background) Teresa Tudury Vocals