2006: December 18 ~ "not a single turkey, nor any stuffing"...
Tidings, Allison Crowe's mix of traditional
carols such as "In the Bleak Midwinter", "What Child Is
This", "Silent Night", and songs of joy, peace, and
redemption from the modern, secular, songbook is a favourite of, both,
music fans and critics. It's been called: "The Yuletide find of
the year... an absolutely stunning seasonal album that can be enjoyed
year-round." Applause is heard for the vocalist/pianist's
"truly transcendent" takes on Joni Mitchell's
"River" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".
Wisconsin DJ and sociologist, Dr. Gerry Grzyb, AKA 'Dr. Christmas', has
commented: "Of over 100 new Christmas CDs played on my show,
Allison's drew the most listener interest." Others, around the
world, bill Tidings, a newly emerging classic, as "A
marvelously throughtful album", noting "a mostly unadorned
Crowe plays piano... and expertly tackles both Christmas classics and
less traditional homegrown songs."
Professor of Law at St. Paul, Minnesota's Hamline University, Carol
Swanson, is also a veteran reviewer of Christmas music. She says:
"Tidings is an exceptional holiday album, and Canadian Allison
Crowe is a stunningly talented performer. Her voice celebrates the
music with a bluesy rock-gospel intensity; her controlled vibrato,
silken rasp, and powerful projection rivet your attention. This is no
casual background music for your holiday party; be prepared to be
amazed .this album is packed with highlights from stem to stern. Every
song radiates sincerity, creative flair, and emotional intensity."
While enjoying accolades across the spectrum, and reaching an
increasingly broad public audience, Allison Crowe continues to create
outside the mainstream. Like Nina Simone, or her modern models Pearl
Jam and Ani DiFranco ~ the 25 year-old musician chooses not to conform
or "play the game". She's true to her own course (bringing to
mind Neil Young's mid-'70s quote: " 'Heart of Gold' put me in the
middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for
the ditch.").
"In an entertainment world that increasingly genuflects at the
altar of instant fame, Crowe seems an anomaly, building her career
slowly and carefully," observes music-writer Adrian Chamberlain
(in an article published earlier this month in the Times Colonist
newspaper).
Still, even as she goes her own way, there is a pop culture nexus.
Vital ideas from the 'street' are commonly absorbed by those in the
corporate sphere, commodified and mass-marketed. Allison Crowe's Tidings
concept has itself this year seen a mainstreaming effect with the
release by Vancouver, B.C's Nettwerk Records of Sarah McLachlan's
"Wintersong" CD. For Crowe, this is a particularly delightful
and gratifying turn - she
grew up listening to, and inspired by, McLachlan's '80s and '90s output
(including "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" and
"Surfacing" albums).
Crowe's original album, Tidings, continues to grow in acclaim -
essentially through grassroots discovery by listeners. Upon its
initial, full-length, release one reviewer declared: "This high
concept seasonal sampler is a triumph." Most currently, in the
December 15, 2006 issue of the Women's
Post, The Globe and Mail Books Editor, Martin Levin, titles
his column "Crowe for Christmas" and says:
"It is customary among some at this time of year, to begin to
issue
seasonal greeting by reference to some song. Thus, to readers, I say,
have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, or, to paraphrase ecumenically,
a Cheery Chanukah or a Kolossal Kwanza.
To help you on your way, there is the usual shower of Christmas albums.
You might try CDs by Canadian icons Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong) and
the
Barra MacNeils (The Christmas Album II), or journey to the land of the
green Christmas (mostly) for James Taylor's At Christmas, while the
most
unlikely source of peace and love is shock-rock heavy metallers Twisted
Sister, with A Twisted Christmas. Somehow, I can't quite associate
chestnuts roasting on an open fire or sleigh bells jing-a-lingling with
Dee Snider and crew.
But I do want to recommend three CDs by Canadians you might not
know."
Following praise for Michel Bérubé's "This Christmas" and
the Ault
Sisters' "Christmas Feelings (Last Tango)" Martin Levin
proclaims:
"But for me, the real revelation is an CD from last year that I've
only
just listened to. I refer to that other singer-pianist from Nanaimo,
B.C., Allison Crowe. And if you haven't heard of her or, better yet,
heard her, you really should.
Her album is called Tidings (Rubenesque Records) and they are glad
indeed. Beginning with a brief but stirring rendition of the carol It
Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Crowe launches into a 12-track CD that
contains not a single turkey, nor any stuffing. There are other carols
(Silent Night, The First Noel), but Crowe also pays tribute to the gods
of rock and roll, with charming readings of the Beatles' Let it Be and
In My Life, Joni Mitchell's River and the Rolling Stones' Shine a
Light,
fittingly and thematically concluding with Angel.
Crowe's warm, natural, passionate - and need I add lovely? - voice are
perhaps shown to best effect on another glorious standard, Leonard
Cohen's magnificent and deeply spiritual quest for faith, Hallelujah.
It's been sung brilliantly before by the likes of Rufus Wainright and
k.d. lang, but Crowe easily holds her own in that august company. I
expect much more to be heard from her."
Allison Crowe's Tidings television special airs this Wednesday,
December 20 at 8 p.m. on CHUM's A-Channel network and associated
digital and satellite channels across Canada (check your local
listings). Here's a seasonal sampling from Tidings, the album:
River
Hallelujah
Silent
Night
In
the Bleak Midwinter
What
Child Is This
Peace on earth, goodwill toward all. Happy holidays!