Album Notes

"The highlights of the evening are the Harriet Goldberg jazzy “’40s” songs. She can channel that style and sophistication like no one else and put it over seamlessly, as if the lyrics had been there all along: “We Stole a Kiss on the Train (…We disembarked and discovered the moon.”) The lyricism and mood just about take your breath away. You know what they always say. They say they don’t write ‘em like that anymore but they’re wrong. Goldberg does."
-Beverly Creasey (The Theater Mirror May 2008)

Harriet Goldberg is a songwriter from the Boston area. "Ocean of Dreams" is her second CD of original music written in the style of old standards...ballads, bossas, and swing. Her debut album, "Bring Back the Moonlight," placed fourth in the vocal jazz category of the Just Plain Folks 2004 Music Awards. In addition to distributing her CD's, Ms. Goldberg is searching for talented vocalists to perform or record her material.

Ms. Goldberg has studied classical as well as jazz piano. She began writing music and lyrics for jazz and cabaret vocals ten years ago. Her song, "Now and Then," which is on "Ocean of Dreams," was a finalist in the jazz category of the 2004 USA Songwriting Competition. Her tune, "Suddenly You Walked By" placed 2nd in the jazz category of the 2002 Billboard Song Contest, and was a finalist in the 2003 USA Songwriting Contest. Ms. Goldberg's work has been featured at the MAC/ASCAP Songwriters' Showcase, the Metropolitan Club and the NY Sheet Music Society in NYC, in Boston Sings Boston III and IV, Cabarets of original material by Boston songwriters, in NOMTI's (New Opera & Musical Theater Initiative) 2004 Birth of a Musical Cabaret, at the Regattabar and Scullers, two leading jazz clubs in Boston, as well as at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center. Her music also was heard on the pilot episode of the Fox series "New Amsterdam."

Ms. Goldberg's CD of original music is performed by two exceptionally talented Boston/Providence vocalists, Debra Mann and Dane Vannatter. Each singer offers a unique style and quality to the material. Ms. Mann is a pianist, as well as a singer. Her lush, low register vocals recall the sound of Diana Krall. Her uptempo tunes make you you smile, her ballads make you cry. Dane Vannatter, a MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret) and N.Y. Bistro award winning vocalist has a beautiful, shimmering quality to his voice. His renditions of the bossas and title track are mesmerizing.

The talents of the other musicians are quite extraordinary. Billy Novick, an inspired clarinetist and alto sax player, was the arranger for the CD. Both his solos and arrangements add a unique beauty to the music. Paul Schmeling has been head of the piano department at Berklee College of Music for many years. His lush chords, lingering piano introductions and solos are awe inspiring. John Wheatley, on guitar, beautifully and gracefully augments the bossas. Marshall Wood provides a strong, steady bass throughout, and immediately sets the pace on the first tune. The talented Bill Reynolds on drums rounds out this group of inspired musicians.