Mysterious,
beautiful, fey, elusive—all of these words describe
poet-musician Jessie Haynes' new CD, The Secret Life of
Cinderella. This lovely CD is a work of art from start
to finish—from the magickal collage liner art, to the
poetic power of Haynes' lyrics, to the delicacy and
artistry of the instrumentation. In fact, this musical
"fairytale"—I think back in the 70s they would have
called this a "concept album"—is a fully conceived and
lovingly executed multimedia work about the power of
imagination as the true source of magic.
It's no surprise that her songwriting and vocals are
reminiscent of Suzanne Vega, while some songs have the
same trippy Renaissance flavor as very early Pink Floyd.
Jessie Haynes brings her considerable skills and talents
as a
musician, singer and poet to a project that must
obviously have been a labor of love: it is so richly
drawn and emotionally diverse. Haynes sings, and plays
guitars, bass, keyboards, recorder and percussion. "The
Secret Life of Cinderella" ranges from gentle acoustic
folk to heartfelt, gritty blues. Her sweet soprano is
deceptively delicate on
songs like "Beyond the Wishing Well" and "Sister", where
the interplay of her voice, soft guitar and powerful
lyrics is nothing less than heartbreaking. "The Rowan
Tree" is a dark-toned instrumental, redolent of autumn
fires and rising mists, and "You and Eye" is a stunning
evocation of the Dark Goddess ("She can take us through
the Dark") that just gives me goose bumps each time I
listen to it. Things heat up a bit on "Fortune Surfer,"
a sexy, bluesy stomp which expertly pairs Jessie's fey
vocals with a restrained but evocative guitar and bass
line. Here more of a driving rock edge comes forward
and Haynes performs with passion and swagger.
Haynes' The Secret Life of Cinderella is a beautifully
conceived, produced and performed CD, a lush work of
art. Highly recommended.
Leni Hester
NewWitch Magazine 2008
Limited copies
available
Ritchie Blackmore
Convention, October 23,
2004
1.Stage
Announcement 0:22
2.Prophecy 4:49
3. Interim 0:20
4. A Girl 4:24
5. Interim 0:40
6. Another Match
3:35
7. I Don't Wanna
Know 4:05
8. Interim 0:32
9. Dracula 5:07
10. I Know 2:04
11. Elastic Nerve
3:55
12. Interim 0:23
13. Arizona 4:57
14. Selling Roses
5:34
15. Closing 0:22
$10.00
plus S&H
Jessie Haynes & Cowgirl Ecstasy
Limited Edition Compilation
1. Prophecy 4:46
2.
Drain 4:22
3.
Selling Roses 5:40
4.
Perfect Impossible You 3:11
5.
Sweet Little Thing 5:11
6.
Elastic Nerve 4:07
7.
Arizona 4:42
8. A
Girl 4:11
9.
Skating the Line 3:12
COPIES OF THIS CD ARE SOLD OUT. DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION IS AVAILABLE AT:
Stephen Palmer's "THE ALLIANCE" 2005
An excellent collection of songs,
written, recorded & produced by Stephen Palmer and an alliance of
excellent musicians.
It was my pleasure (& honor!)
to sing on this great piece of work! There are not many people out there
of Steve's calibur AND motivation. I wrote the lyrics to it after 9/11.
We put it on a recording we did together that year, entitled "Radio
Wav's." When Steve was recording 'The Alliance' he decided to put it on
there as well. This time around we brought in a singer whose voice I was
a great fan of, Jason, and in his spare time, Steve brought in a troop
of brass. After that I came in & we had a great time adding an afternoon
of a chorus of backgrounds. It's always one of my favorites to listen
to. You can purchase a copy of The Alliance at Stephen's website:
www.stephenpalmermusic.com
