Erin Bode - The Little Garden (12 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Another Winner

David R. Seid | Fairfax, VA USA | 08/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Erin Bode Band has done it again. At first I was not sure I prefered this album to their last one (both are superb), but I definitely heard a real maturation in the lyrics.

Bode's voice is as beautiful as ever and the band and album production are top-notch. It really is too bad not many people know of Erin Bode because they really are missing out on something special.

Bottom line is this one is well worth the money, and is the kind of CD you can just pop into your player and play from start to finish without worrying about any clunker tracks. My personal favorite on the album is the title track on the cover, but everything is good here.

Oh yes, after further review, this album *is* better than their last effort... and that is saying something. "The Little Garden" gets my highest recommendation.

Enjoy!"

Strong third CD

Lyle K. Benson | Baltimore, MD | 08/25/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Erin Bode's third CD is a strong follow up to her prior work. The CD is highlighted by strong songwriting and the continuation of wonderful harmonies backed up with tight musical arrangements."

Sydney Come Down

Larosa Nicola | Rome, Italy | 11/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Erin Bode has a great voice and a great group, and this album is good. What really gets me is the song "Sydney Come Down". I rush to the credits, sure to find Tony Banks and Paddy McAloon as co-authors, but no, it's you and Adam Maness: I'm floored.

As unlikely as it sounds, that song is a perfect blend of Genesis' piano arpeggios and chord changes, and Prefab Sprout freedom, climaxes, and poignant lyrics. I could go on listening to it for days on end. :-)

Thanks, Erin. Your personality enriches the fine tradition of Joni Mitchell, Emmilou Harris, Julia Fordham, Paula Cole and Norah Jones, to name just a few shiver-inducers."

Wonderful!

Kenwyn Morris | Trinidad & Tobago | 11/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'd never heard of Erin Bode before the local smooth jazz radio station here in Trinidad began playing 'Chasing After You' on the weekends. What a wonderful voice! Definitely one of the best CD's I've bought this year. The tracks on the CD may be an acquired taste to some, but once acquired you won't be able to stop listening for a long, long time."

Knocking Down Boundaries

Jim Newsom | Norfolk, VA | 12/06/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Erin Bode entered the public arena four years ago labeled a jazz singer, primarily because she was on a jazz record label. But, while she has an obvious grounding in the intricacies of jazz, she is really more of a singer-songwriter in the Carole King-Carly Simon-Joni Mitchell vein.

Her pianist and co-writer Adam Maness is an accomplished player with an economical style that enhances and undergirds Bode's light-as-a-feather vocal delivery. And she works wonders roaming across a wide emotional range with that girlish voice.

The duo's songwriting has a finely honed pop feel, complete with memorable melodies and catchy hooks. The album's opener, "New England Friends" is an excellent example, the piano grabbing your attention with its choppy intro and Bode's irresistible voice sailing through the song's shiver-inducing musicality.

The backing tracks are built around the singer's regular trio, with husband Syd Rodway on bass and drummer Derrek Phillips hunkering down behind the traps. But many of the songs are fattened up sympathetically with additional instrumentation---when a clarinet-bass clarinet-soprano sax chorus appears in "Sweater Song," the piece positively soars.

"Chasing After You" chases after a `70s vibe with its sweet Steely Dan electric piano stylings and acoustic guitar bed; "It's All Your Fault" begins as a slinky standup bass walk that grows into a jazzy piano figurine enhanced by some saxophonics straight out of the old Kingston, Jamaica studios. And the one non-original takes up where Bode's last outing left off--on Over and Over, she served up a glorious reinvention of Paul Simon's "Graceland;" here she burrows gently into Simon's "Born at the Right Time," drawing more meaning out of the lyrics than I knew was there.

Erin Bode, is a singer whose albums just keep getting better. Her third release knocks down the boundaries that artificially separate musical genres and styles.

copyright © 2008 Jim Newsom. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission

Originally published in Treehouse Magazine, 11/17/08

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	Erin Bode The Little Garden Genres: Jazz, Pop Track Listings (12) - Disc #1 New England Friends Chasing After You Sweater Song Little Garden Born at the Right Time It's All Your Fault Sydney Come Down Two Cold Water Out of Time Fences Goodnight
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