April Martin
New York City, New York, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
First review of 2011 goes to April Martin's delightful excursion into multiple genres with the guiding hand of producer Peter Calo giving the styles at play a little of his own ...style. When I went looking for pictures to post here in Google Images there were links to Peter Calo.com , aprilmartin.com , the U.K. version of amazon.com and an interesting review here http://view.vcab.com/?vcabID=cgaSncecSccrelh&page=131
There were also the obligatory pennies in actual jars, this one with quarters but enough of that and on to my review. The flutes in "Out Of My Hands", the opening track which tells of "all my schemes ...written in sand" are a perfect complement to Martin's voice. For those who appreciae Marianne Faithful's lovely Andrew Loog Oldham-produced pop episodes the great Mr. Calo crafts just such a new masterpiece with this song. Acoustic guitars that take you back in time to the Immediate Records label and all the fun it brought to the universe. "It's A Shame" travels forward in time to the Nico-esque Marianne Faithful days when Mark Miller Mundy gave Marianne a bit of a darker tinge, that Broken English period on Island records. Not to dwarf Martin's debut in someone else's cloak but this collection of fourteen songs seems to be a bit more about communicating ideas than breaking original ground. "Cold Light Of Day" takes things to an even more intense line of thought, Buffy St. Marie and Judy Collins battling it out as if 60's guitarist Vinny Bell trekked into the future to give this folk music a new sort of sound. OK, it is quite innovative, so I take back the comment about unoriginality. "Got a Way To Go" would fit nicely onto the soundtrack of that Country & Western setting for the film Back To The Future III...didn't Calo also produce and play on a country album of old, old standards? If so, he's the perfect fit for this song. I like "Love's Been A Long Time Coming" and "Bye Bye", especially "Bye Bye"... more comparisons come to mind, the angst of Janis Ian and some heart-pounding lyrics that would come in handy if you are ready to tell a former love "adios". Write 'em down just in case you need 'em. The title "Pennies In A Jar" comes up inside a song, the finale, "Warrior Of The Heart", which I think should've been a five or six minute epic to close out the album. All the songs come in between three minute mark, the opening song at 3:45 and the second to last at two seconds under at 2:58 Didn't "The Letter" by the Box Tops come in at 1:58? There are no cover songs, but the album is strong in both production and song quality. Nice CD for me to start the new year of reviews off with.
- Charlene Goodman
The chances of an artist or band that secured a record contract after 1979 making its way to my ears would be as prevalent as a Lunar Eclipse coinciding with the Winter Solstice.
April Martin’s magnificent effort possesses all the ingredients to be the exception to the rule. The music is the star; she is unassuming throughout the fourteen tracks, recalling her influences while chiseling the road ahead, and all along the journey always comfortable in her own skin thanks to the success of her day jobs (the practice of psychology and public speaking).
April’s admiration for Joan Baez, Buffy St. Marie, and Peter, Paul & Mary from the 1960’s folk scene is evident and the same can be said for the hankering of the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and Carole King.
April’s collection of songs came to the attention of Peter Calo (Carly Simon, numerous other session works, as well as a recording artist in his own right). Peter produced the CD with the culmination that properly articulates April’s vision while splendid to the senses.
The conjurations of the folk oriented tracks are evident from the initial listening. “Pennies In A Jar” doesn’t take a multitude of attention before you appreciate the contentment between the lyrical and music content. From the openings notes of “Out of My Hands” (a defectless choice to start the festivities) to the final seconds of “Warrior of the Heart”, April has guided us through a rippleless sea.
I’m irresolute to remove the disc from the CD player knowing it may be another couple of centuries before I’m enthralled again by a release of recent vintage.
All the best,
Craig Fenton
Author: Jefferson Airplane Take Me To A Circus Tent
Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonight
- Craig Fenton - author of Jefferson Airplane Biography
Discography
PENNIES IN A JAR, CD released June, 2010
1. Out Of My Hands
2. It's A Shame
3. Cold Light Of Day
4. Got A Way To Go
5. Love's Been A Long Time Coming
6. I Don't Know
7. I'll Never Understand
8. When She Says Yes
9. I Know What He Means
10. I Won't Make That Mistake
11. Bye-Bye
12. One Kiss In The Rain
13. It Ain't About The Chassis
14. Warrior Of The Heart
Photos
Bio
In a million years I never imagined putting out a CD of songs I'd written. This was not even an aspiration of my long-ago youth, still smoldering behind midlife's responsibilities. As far as I knew, I didn't have a creative bone in my body and I'd made my peace with it.
Then ten years ago my partner, who has an uncanny intuition and a generous spirit, walked in the door with a Martin guitar for my 51st birthday. Trying to be gracious, I suppressed the thought, "What the %#@& am I supposed to do with that?" At the time I was seeing perhaps 50 patients a week (I am a psychologist), out of both love for the work and the necessity to support our two expensive teenagers. And I'd written a book in 1993, The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook, which got enough attention to keep me pretty busy with writing and speaking engagements. So my heart actually sank at the sight of this extravagant gift and the implicit burden of playing it when I barely had time to breathe.
And then, in the next moment, a wild excitement rose up in me. I flashed back to the hit parade songs my father and I would sing when I was a child. It was the 1950's, and for 5 cents the candy store sold a printed sheet containing the lyrics of the latest tunes, like "Secret Love" or "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" I remembered how the Everly Brothers tugged on my early adolescent awakenings. And there I was in high school in1965, trying to pick Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Buffy St. Marie songs on my hippie folk guitar. I recalled the Cream and the Beatles, the Eagles and Carole King, and so many others who'd been my companions through life's transitions. I thought at that moment that there is nothing in the whole world like a song that makes you feel something in your body and heart and mind all at once, and stays with you through the years like a dear friend. I greedily asked my partner, "Does this gift of a guitar come with lessons?"
Some people have been creative since they were born, always making art of one kind or another, expressing what was in their minds and souls. Not me. I was a girl who liked following rules. I practiced penmanship. I was a good speller. I memorized the capitals of all the states. In fact, nothing struck fear in my heart worse than the words, "Make up a story" or "Create a diorama" because I had no idea where to get...well...an idea. So a year after falling hopelessly, time-consumingly in love with my new guitar, no one was more surprised than I to find myself standing at a creative well I'd never visited before, lowering my bucket in search of a rhyme.
It turns out that well wasn't just for the creative kids. It turns out to be a public well, free of charge, that anyone can use. And it was always standing exactly where I found it, although it took me more than 50 years to stumble upon it, and to learn what the creative kids probably always knew: that there are few things in this life as joyful as pulling up a brimming shimmering thirst quencher.
I've called this album "Pennies in a Jar" because that image captures something about who I want to be. To put pennies in a jar is to be optimistic about a future and yet to be rooted in the present. It reflects a faith that our small quotidian actions do in fact amount to something important. It measures achievement in the little, unremarkable ways we live and love. It is a spiritual act of quiet, gentle wisdom, like a daily meditation.
Not that these songs are quietly meditative. They are playful, passionate, sad, and even bawdy. But this collection of songs is my pennies in a jar - small offerings which come from my spirit and hopefully, taken together, amount to something.
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