On her own feet.
Although Jude Johnstone has been unknown for four CDs already, many know songs she wrote. Trisha Yearwood reached number one with The Women Before Me, Johnny Cash sang her Unchained, Bonnie Raitt made Wounded Heart her own and on Emmylou Harris’ latest there is Hold On.
Her eleven new songs are ballads and medium-tempo songs, played in a jazzy way and produced in an open manner. Johnstone’s vocals and piano are in the centre and, because of that, her flowing, fragile melodies are too. That quality and her obscurity make them extremely suited for artists that can put their own personalities into them. However, Johnstone already sings her dark lyrics with a melancholy that is restrained and emotional at the same time. Her somewhat metal-like voice stengthens that intriguing contradiction even further.
That way she delivers classic quality with musicians like drummer Danny Frankel, bass player David Pilch, guitarist Mark Goldenberg and hornsmen Marc Macisso and Daniel Savant.
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Published in Dutch in roots music magazine Heaven no. 57 November-December 2008/no. 6