The Wailin' Jennys 40 Days

What is it about Canada providing such fertile ground for great female singer/songwriters? From the peerless Joni Mitchell to the irresistible Lynn Miles (a new album is coming soon!!), there's also been such wonderful work from Susie Ungerleider (Oh Susanna), the Be Good Tanyas, the recent cd from the Duhks and, of course, the Wailin' Jennys. Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Cara Luft-three Canadian singer/songwriters--have produced the harmony album of the year. Each has a distinctive voice and song writing tone. But, their affinity for each other, vocally, is amazing. A brilliant and lovely opening song, "One Voice" sets the perfect mood. Mostly excellent originals, they also perform several covers: a great version of Neil Young's "Old Man" which called to mind the harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash and a lovely take on John Hiatt's romantic "Take it Down." A couple of traditional tunes, as well, including a beautiful closing "The Parting Glass." Don't miss this one. Cara Luft has left the Jennys and been replaced with Annabelle Chvostek. Let's hope the miraculous sounds and songwriting continue. In the meantime, go to the websites of the Wailin' Jennys, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody. If you are as taken with them as I am, buy Ruth's MOODY, PENNER AND SWAIN (a celtic album of traditional tunes), Ruth's solo BLUE MUSE, Nicky's WEATHER VANE, and the Jennys' earlier EP. All of them are quite wonderful.

I am listening to it now - I'm glad CD's don't wear out like vinyl. I can't get enough of "One Voice" at the start, "The Parting Glass" at the end, and everything in between, espcially "Arlington." I'm another Prairie Home Companion nerd, where a lot of music is filler between the jokes. Not this. Even on a live broadcast, there was something wonderful about their music, so I got the CD for my wife (ok, for me). The production quality on the CD is worth the price, and the harmonies are priceless. Actually, the frequent shift from solo to harmony to unison is a large part of the magic. I have enjoyed Anonymous 4 and the Trio albums of Parton, Ronstadt and Harris, I play Norah Jones and Loreena McKennitt a lot, but the Jennys are my new favorite. Gotta go. "Arlington" is playing.

I was just entering my teens when the Beatles took America by storm. In those days, albums were made up of one great song after another, with perhaps one or two tracks that I would call "filler": not quite good enough to be number-one hits, possibly produced before the artists had worked out the kinks. Sometime during the '70s, and increasingly during the '80s and '90s, the bean counters acquired a stranglehold on the music industry. Albums began to appear with one or two great songs; the rest of the tracks were filler. My interest in currently-popular music began to wane because of this, especially when the prices of CDs kept going up and up, for less and less. Thank goodness for the internet. I heard the Wailin' Jennys on Pandora for the first time. I listened at my office as I worked. Every time I heard a remarkably good song, I would activate the browser window and learn that I was hearing the Wailin' Jennys, frequently from this album. I heard one beautifully-sung gem after another. It didn't take long before I decided to buy the album. I am not disappointed. The quality of work harks back to the glory days of the early '60s. I applaud and thank these musicians for bucking the trend of selfishness and greed that nearly destroyed the music business. Thank you for defying the bean counters. I will be back for more.

I love this album. The voices are strong, clear, and blend together really well, the arrangements are traditional yet unique, and the instrumental parts aren't complicated but are played perfectly. But what really sets this album apart for me is the recording engineering, which gives everything a very natural sound yet has tons of detail, ambiance, and imagery. It's one of the first albums that I check out when I have a new piece of gear, and one that sounds better every time I make an improvement where a lot of other recordings start to reveal flaws. I also have Firecracker, which tends towards a bit more modern sound in the pieces, but its audio quality isn't quite up to this one.

I'll put it simply. I like this duo's soothing sound. Their harmonies and easy voices really put one at ease and provide a relaxing atmosphere for just enjoying some calming music after a hectic day at work. I recommend this album for anyone looking to just relax and decompress after the workday

I've been a self-described "hard-core folk freak" since the mid-'60s. I did not know about the Wailin' Jennys until last Christmas when introduced to them by a friend. We were over at his house for a holiday meal and all he had to do was play "Arlington" from this CD - I was hooked! (I think it was a calculated move and our friend knew exactly what he was doing.) Anyway, we now have three of their CDs w.hich are ripped to our NAS for playback on our Sonos system or on our phones with good IEMs and in the vehicles. As an aside, Amazon Music Unlimited has provided a whole new way for us to explore artists and music and I have found several other new-to-me artists by going down rabbit holes from "Similar Artists" on Amazon Music from the Wailin' Jennys and others.

Great CD! It arrived in perfect condition and was packed and shipped very well.

Ces trois jeunes femmes, dont les voix s'accordent d'une manière extraordinaire, nous proposent un disque de folk qui est une invitation perpétuelle à la beauté

Si te gusta el folk, las voces femeninas y las harmonías, no dudes en comprarlo. Merece la pena desde la primera hasta la última canción.

Vor einigen Jahren habe ich in der Bibliothek einen Sampler ausgeliehen mit dem Titel "Women of the World". Zwei Titel hatten es mir besonders angetan: "Grano de Arena" von Marta Topferova und "One Voice" von den Wailin' Jennys. Von Marta besitze ich inzwischen vier Scheiben, von den Jennys drei. Die Musik der drei Kanadierinnen klingt, als hätte man sie in den frühen 70ern eingefroren und 40 Jahre später wieder aufgetaut. Das Booklet zeigt uns drei hübsche Bräute in gebatikten Hippie-Klamotten. Und wie zum Beweis: Track 7 ist "Old Man" von Neil Young, aus dem Jahre '72. Der Altmeister dürfte respektvoll seinen Hut gezogen haben vor dem, was seine Landsfrauen hier musikalisch abgeliefert haben. Ruth Moody (Sopran), Nicky Mehta (Mezzosopran) und Cara Luft (Alt) haben phantastische Stimmen und harmonieren wunderbar zusammen. Ihr Gesang ist einfühlsam, ausdrucksstark, dynamisch. An der Intonation ist nichts, aber auch gar nichts, zu bekritteln. Jede der Sängerinnen übernimmt in ihren eigenen Songs die Leadvocals, die beiden anderen liefern die zweite und dritte Stimme. Die Instrumentierung ist eher spartanisch, akustische Instrumente wie Gitarre, Mandoline, Akkordeon, Viola, bisschen Percussion, dezente E-Klampfe, Bass - das war's schon so ziemlich. Der Gesang steht immer im Vordergrund und wird nicht zugematscht. Und abwechslungsreich ist die Musik auch. Ruhige Balladen wechseln sich ab mit schnelleren und kraftvolleren Stücken. Es gibt zwei Traditionals und mit "Take it Down" von John Hiatt, die zweite Fremdkomposition. Wunderbar! Die absolute Krönung ist aber für mich der letzte Titel: eine a capella Version von "The Parting Glass". In einer irischen Kneipe grölen alle, die noch nicht unter'm Tisch liegen, aus voller Lunge den Song mit, ein richtiges Sauflied. Die drei Jennys singen den Titel so, wie es ihm gebührt: anrührend, traurig, schön - eine Ballade über den Abschied. Lobend hervorheben möchte ich noch die saubere Arbeit von Ton-Kutscher und Multi-Instrumentalist David Travers-Smith, der hier eine perfekte Produktion abgeliefert hat. Wenn ihr mehrstimmigen Gesang liebt, wenn ihr Musik mögt, die sich musikalisch zwischen Folk und Country bewegt, dann seid ihr hier richtig!

Saw Ruth Moody when she toured with Mark Knopfler. Loved her voice and decided to buy a couple of here albums including this one with the Walling Jennys. All of this stuff is subjective but I wasn't disappointed. Well produced, good songs and excellent performances.

Wer gerne Folk hört ist hier richtig - super schöne Stimmen mit einfühlsamen Melodien