Natalia Zukerman
Only One
© 2006 Talisman Records (BMI) (616806268324) (format: CD-R)
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Bottle-neck country jazz with smoky, come-hither vocals
tracks
- 1 Last Chance
- 2 Ice Cream
- 3 Bones
- 4 Only One
- 5 Haunted House
- 6 Winter Coat
- 7 Anyway
- 8 Sweet Time
- 9 Loved Like That
- 10 Shoot The Freak
- 11 Three
- 12 Milk & Honey
- 13 Home
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Her songs display “the come-hither sultriness of her slinky, earthy vocals.” (Performing Songwriter)
Natalia Zukerman has a sound that’s strong yet delicate, gentle yet insistent. You can call the music she makes folk if you want, but there’s jazz in it, too, and blues, and a soulful something or other that you can’t quite put into words. Whether onstage or on record, she presents herself just as she is—no gimmicks, no flashy pyrotechnics, only the solid musicianship of someone who knows and loves her craft.
The daughter of violinist/conductor Pinchas Zukerman and flutist/writer Eugenia Zukerman, Natalia grew up in Manhattan immersed in classical music. Performing live—and experiencing what she calls the life of a “wandering gypsy”—seems to be a family tradition: her sister Arianna is an opera singer, and her paternal grandfather played clarinet in Klezmer bands in Poland and later Israel. But after receiving the requisite training early on, Natalia realized her first instrument—the violin—was not taking her where she really wanted to go. “I couldn’t match what I heard (in my ears), physically,” she recalls. “The sound I produced drove me out of my mind.” Nor did she feel at home in the world of classical concerts and recitals: “I didn’t like getting dressed up and sitting in silence, rehearsing and playing the same piece the same way, over and over again,” she says.
There were glimpses now and then of an alternative. “My parents used to go to the Aspen Music Festival in the summer when I was very young. One day I saw someone—I think it was the classical violinist Nigel Kennedy—playing fiddle in a bluegrass band, and heard banjos for the first time…” Zukerman laughs as she thinks back on that ‘aha’ moment, joking that “I felt like I’d been lied to!”
Once her eyes opened to the folk scene, everything began to change. She turned her attention to the guitar—beginning with classical lessons—and began writing songs of her own after graduating from college. The lyrics she came up with—which have often been hailed for their imagery and intelligence—are intensely personal, without the self-obsessed confessional tone of what she nicknames “diary rock.” And her love for the guitar has led her to explore more and more varieties and offshoots of the instrument: electric, acoustic, slide, lap steel, even the banjo and a brief foray into traditional Indian technique. “Nimble fingers capable of picking upward of thirty notes per measure,” says a music writer for the New Yorker, offering further praise that “when she sings she can switch from scat to swoon in the course of a glissando."
Her debut recording, Mortal Child (2001), provided an early glimpse at her talents. Things really fell into place on her second album, On a Clear Day (2003), which showcased her evolution as a guitarist. For that one, Zukerman gathered a veritable Who’s Who of respected players from the acoustic music community to join her in the studio, including percussionist Allison Miller (Natalie Merchant), multi-instrumentalist Julie Wolf (Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams), and bassist Jason Kriveloff (Topaz, Tortured Soul), among others. One listen to the instrumentation on the recording—with its touches of cello, banjo, flugelhorn, accordion, and flute—and you can tell Zukerman knows exactly how to create richly textured, atmospheric settings for her intimate songs.
2006 brings a third album, Only One, and a very different approach. “People have been asking if I have a recording that’s more representative of what I do live,” she says. Those requests, along with her desire to create an intimate, unpolished, and almost-live sound, inspired her to record at home, creating an album on which she plays the songs as written: for guitar, for Dobro, and for her voice.
As for those live shows, they’ve been growing more and more frequent as word of Natalia has traveled along the acoustic circuit. She’s sensational no matter where she plays; a house concert, an audience of a hundred, or in front of the thousands at gatherings like Telluride, the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, and Ottawa Folk Fest. Recent tours as the guitarist for Andy Friedman and the Other Failures, as well as sharing the stage numerous times with Melissa Ferrick, have won her countless new fans as well.
When she’s not playing music, Zukerman can be found running her own label, Talisman Records, or painting bigger-than-life murals commissioned for public or private spaces. Onstage, however, is where she’s most at home. As Friedman notes, “Her bright vocals can send an orchid into bloom, while her delta-slide guitar can open a beer bottle with its teeth.”
One thing’s for certain: this girl can play.
reviews
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One of my favorite CD's!
author: Veronica GracianoI recently got the great pleasure of seeing Natalia perform live at Joe Rathburn's Folkey Monkey songwriter showcase. What an amazing performer Natalia is! I was just blown away by her guitar playing, her voice and song lyrics. I was really sad when the show was over but I relive that night whenever I listen to this amazing CD.
Incredible talent both vocals and instrumental!!
author: ChrisIf you like jazzy, sassy and innovative, this cd is for you. Natalia does an excellent job of mixing things up between her guitar and dobro with lyrics that flow like a river down a mountain. Absolutely awesome! Personal favorite, Haunted House but Loved Like That is a close second. =)
Superb!! Highly Recommended!
author: CindyI saw Natalia play live a couple of times in 2006 and loved both her performances! She's definitely one of the most talented musicians I have seen perform. I love the fact that she put out a "live" performance-like CD. "Only One" captures the spirit of her live show perfectly. She definitely has the complete package as far as being a great Independent artist: excellent musicianship, great voice and wonderful songwriting. Buy "Only One" AND while you're at it, catch a live show, too!!
Oh Natalia!
author: FerrisGREAT ALBUM! Amazing vocals. I wish I hadn't waited so long to get it!
Awesome voice!!
author: BrookeGreat CD. Amazing vocals and guitar sound. Highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys this type of music!
A simple statement of incredible talent.
author: Indie-music.comNatalia Zukerman's newest album, Only One, has the immediacy of an instant, almost-demo recording. Which is because, in many respects, that's what it is. The entire record was recorded over two days with "no overdubs, no do-overs" as the liner notes state. She's very much like an American KT Tunstall ... or perhaps that should be vice versa? In lesser hands, this one-take-wonderstuff would be at best a gimmick, at worst an embarrassment. In the accomplished guitar strumming hands of Natalia Zukerman, however, this is a simple statement of incredible talent. The slide guitar of the title track is repeated throughout the record, always providing an eliding foundation for the fluidity of Zukerman's lovely voice. A voice which, I might add, is mostly soft as cotton but can occasionally show the glint of steel nails. In the style of Suzanne Vega and other storytelling musicians, Zukerman's songs are three-dimensional and eschew a verse-chorus-verse, more poetry reading than Songwriting 101. Zukerman's Only One is a great record for those coming summer evenings when all you want to do is hold a cold glass of wine in your hand, turn the lights down and watch the fireflies hover.
Great music
author: carrieThis is an awesome CD. Both the music and lyrics are beautiful.
Great bluesy, folksy lyrics.
author: BetsyThis is my 1st CD of Natalie's after seeing her in Minneapolis in March. I love her guitar playing and voice and lyrics as well! I enjoy all the songs and she reminds me a little of Joni Mitchell (my era!)
Natalia continues to amaze.
author: EliseNatalia is one of the most original musicians around. She blends the lines between folk, jazz, blues, and country until you can't tell where one genre ends and the other begins, and you're just spellbound by the sounds she makes - which is a sign of a truly great artist. Her songwriting is extraordinarily wise and perceptive. She writes about broken relationships without once getting bitter ("Bones"); about love without getting sugary-sentimental ("Loved Like That"); about current events without getting jaded ("Only One," the most heartbreaking and touching song about New Orleans you'll ever hear); about the ever-shifting life of a traveling musician without getting overly precious or self-pitying. There's no way you can listen to "Only One" and not want more. It's like liquid gold. Don't pass it up.
great cd
author: jaime schoenbrunthis is a great cd. really showcases her talents.
Sultry, sexy, intense, and honest
author: Pat WalshNatalia Zukerman's Only One is sultry, sexy, intense, and honest. Her bottleneck-guitar style makes the listener sit up and say, Whoa! That girl can play! More than an amazing guitar CD, Natalia's voice and lyrics contain warmth and depth that are comfort food for the soul. The song Loved Like That turns the usual love song upside down. The song Three is rich in vocal range, and Milk and Honey slides into a blues sound worthy of any southern front porch. Natalia Zukerman is giving us the contemporary sound of musical traditions as she incorporates these traditions into her own unique sound.