FREEDOM is the second CD from busy Toronto folk duo Crabtree&Mills.
Latest Release From Talented Duo Features New Original Material
Joanne Crabtree and Paul Mills, known individually as pioneers in Canadian roots music, teamed up early in 2006 to produce a CD showcasing her warmly vibrant voice and his playfully elegant guitar. Flight of Fancy was released in January of 2007. As Flight of Fancy was taking shape in the studio, Crabtree&Mills played a series of concerts before sold-out houses in Toronto. The music they made was so exciting, and the chemistry between them so strong, folks stood up and cheered.
Paul says, "I love playing with Joanne. There's a great sense of fun and musicality in everything we do. The material she brings to the duo is always interesting and stretches me as a guitarist."
Joanne says, "On stage and in the studio with Paul, I feel as if I've come home. Our musical styles fit hand in glove. Whether the song is a clever Cole Porter standard, or one of our own compositions, Paul's sparkling and mischievous playing encourages me to put my heart and soul into every note I sing".
In the summer of 2007, Joanne was gripped by a song-writing fever that resulted in eight new songs.
Just as the fever was beginning to wane, Paul joined in, and over many snow-bound days in late 2007, they collaborated on three additional heartfelt songs. Those eleven songs - some sad, some funny, some from personal history, some plucked from thin air – those songs are the essence of Freedom, and from creativity to civil rights, freedom plays a role in every one of them.
Armed with their own writings, two songs from tradition, two from like-minded authors, and the feeling they could not wait to start sharing this new repertoire with the world, Paul and Joanne headed back into the recording studio in 2008. The new CD, Freedom, is the happy result.
The package is rounded out with contributions from Joanne's son, award-winning photographer Matthew O'Sullivan. His beautiful photos illustrate the song lyrics, and the resulting booklet is a tiny masterpiece of graphic design.
The music is beautiful, thought-provoking, tuneful, happy, sad, funny and completely entertaining from the first cut to the fifteenth. Freedom is worth celebrating!
1.I Told You Up-tempo original humourous song about a challenging relationship.
2.Prairie Nights Medium tempo original song about being on the road in the Canadian Prairies.
3.Ballad For Lee Up-tempo original song about a pro football player who almost made it to the big time.
4.Close to You Jazzy medium tempo swing love song with acoustic guitar, and Django-style lead work.
5.Merciful Shepherd Original up-tempo song with a latin groove.
6.Miss Lady Luck Up-tempo humourous original song about trying to write a song.
7.In Love Tonight Beautiful pop love ballad about a relationship late in life. Medium tempo
8.Guadalajara Up-tempo original Tex-Mex ballad about a woman getting even.
9.Heave Away Johnny Traditional ballad. Medium slow tempo.
10.We Sailed Away A heart-wrenching original song about the challenges of immigrating to a new country
11.Lost John Dean Traditional American yarn about a prison escape - some hot picking featured.
12.Only Love A poignant post 9-11 song about the state of the world and its only hope.
13.The Flat Next Door Medium tempo jazz/pop story song about unrequited love in wartime.
14.The Price of Freedom A powerful political protest song retelling a well-known civil rights story from the ‘60s
15.I Can’t Wait A beautiful and singable song telling us all that, in spite of the mess the world is in, there will always be hope.
Genres: Folk: cuts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,11,12,14,15
Jazz/pop: cuts 4, 7, 13
Humourous: cuts 1, 6
Political: cuts 12, 14, 15
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