Nonie Crete/Eugene Rea with Curlew CD Review
Entitled. Danny Boy & Ballads
noniec@sentex.net
www.noniecrete.com
By John Gavin, Sunday, June 23, 2002


Nonie Crete with Eugene Rea and Neil Aitken together as a group  called Curlew just released a first CD as Curlew, entitled Danny Boy & Ballads. The CD was recorded in Eugene's Studio called Rea Studio in Guelph, Ontario. The CD contains 12 songs all performed to perfection. With Nonie's powerful beautiful voice, she makes the songs look easy to sing and sing them from her heart. Nonie plays guitar and harmonica as well does the vocals, Eugene plays mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, guitar, whistles, bodhran and vocals as well and Neil Aitken plays fiddle. David Atkinson and Gary Krellar helps out on bass and accordion.

Nonie along with her daughter Kathleen sings together the first song on the CD entitled, The Giving. The song is dedicated to the people of Gander, Nfld., who after the tragic events of September 11/01, opened their hearts and their homes to their unexpected visitors, stranded as a result of the closure of North American Airspace. It is a beautiful song and is sung suberbly. 

Here are some of the other song titles: Broken Places-Miracle or Two-I Only Want To Be With You-Where Are My Angles Gone-The Mira-Danny Boy-Buachaill on Eirne-Come By The Hills and five more. This CD is a must for music lovers and a great addition to anyone's music library.

Atlantic Seabreeze gives this fine album a full five star rating. For more information regarding Nonie and Curlew, and therir music, check her above posted website, or call 519-843-2960 for bookings. 



www.AtlanticSeabreeze.com
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Ontario singer-songwriter Nonie Crete brings Ireland right to your doorstep with her newest release, "Moonlight Dreams." 

Her sweet, rich voice, acoustic guitar and passionate harmonica give each tune a vivid, emotional texture complemented by the storytelling writing of Eugene O'Neill. Backed by a host of talented musicians, this CD sounds very good indeed. 

Of course, the most obvious instruments featured are the fiddle (Scott Woods), Nonie's acoustic guitar and several instruments played by the multi-talented Bob Robb -- most notably mandolin and dobro. 

Speaking of Robb, he is featured as the gravelly-voiced main character on the opener "Yonge St. Bum" which is an up-tempo tune about a beggar. The storytelling style (this tune writen by Nonie) is so well done it's almost too easy to gloss over the sadness of the man's condition: 
"One mid-March day on Yonge Street, a bum was sitting there, A blanked 'round his shoulders, and long dirty hair... 'Well, I calls meself Saint Paddy, but that depends on my state of mind. 
I lost my shirt in Vegas each and every single dime... So I chose to be a junkie, a begger and a whore. They told me that was the quickest way to get to heaven's door..." (Still wanna dance to that fiddle tune?) 

There are some slow, sort of melancholy tunes, as well. "Give Us Peace," is a swaying, poignant tune about violence (one can assume Northern Ireland) where Nonie's vocals really shine and Gary Kreller's accordion adds a nice touch. 

There are other nice reels, including: "Twiddlin' Her Fingers & Twiddlin' Her Thumbs" and "Johnny Kept Me Dancing." 

The best tune on the entire CD "Ghost Train," features great fast piano by Don Lee, a haunting melody and a great dobro by Bob Robb. Along with Nonie's full and rich vocal, the tune has a sense of urgency about it. "Sixty nine came from nowhere, the carnage and the pain. Our young lives changed overnight, they'd never be the same. They told us all of Connely of Pierce and a man called Tone. How they had fought to free us and make Ireland our own... Their souls ride on the ghost train for happiness was there Their simple childish little smiles for none of us had a care." 

Nonie Crete brings the real world to you -- not in a newspaper, but in song. And does it well.


 

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Often when you hear someone's CD it is not representative of their live performance, what I love about this CD is that what you hear is what you get...Nonie sounds like this when she performs live.

I enjoy the whole CD, but to pick out a few specific tracks: Her sense of humour and irony comes out in her song "Yonge Street Bum", listen carefully to the words.  "Moonlight Dreams" is incredibly wistful and Nonie sings it with tremendous feeling.  "Rebel Mother" is NOT for the faint of heart. It is a tough story about what happens to a wife whose husband just happens to be on the rebel side. Not a pretty story but handled with conviction and great depth. (You'll have to buy the CD to hear this track.)  "Johnny kept me dancing" is a lot of fun, and Nonie's vocals are just excellent.

Nonie is a powerhouse - she has great vocal range and is a great songwriter.  You need this CD in your collection!


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   Moonlight Dreams provides a classy setting which allows this former diamond in the rough to shine.
There is a cohesiveness of sound and content to Moonlight Dreams that one rarely hears in releases by so-called singer/songwriters. The sound is full and rich, the music moving and well arranged, and the lyrics evocative stories drawn from the real world in which we live. The songs here are so consistent that without looking it is impossible to tell which lyrics were written by Crete and which by O'Neill.
As a songwriter, Crete captures the characteristic spirit of Irish music, the essence that makes it both vital and unique, so that, while her songs are written in Ontario, they are unmistakably Irish.
 
  Moonlight Dreams is rich and orchestral, its arrangements bordering on lush and the songs beautifully matched to one another. Where the music before was clearly folky, this new release has moved forward and expanded so that, while still folk-music, it has a broader, more universal sense to it and a more pop sensibility. Now the music is not so much Joni Mitchell as it is Aaron Copland, full and powerful. The arrangements here far better suit Crete's writing and her voice.
Crete has grown vocally too. Here is a strong, confident, and eloquent voice. More often than not, especially in "Everywhere I Go" and "Leaving Old Ireland," Crete's voice and her singing style reminds me of Linda Ronstadt at her best. Somewhere in there can also be heard the influences of Judy Collins and perhaps Sandy Denny. Crete's melodies and the way she approaches her lyrics also bring to mind the work of Susan Jacks. What's important though, is that this is no new singer echoing her influences but a maturing artist who has found her own unique voice.
If Nonie Crete has grown this much in just one year, expect her to be an influential force in Canadian folk music for years to come.
 
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