Personal sharings…
Better known for his composing of hits like Cyndi Lauper’s “All Through The Night” and The Bangles’ “If She Knew What She Wants” as well as his own “Steady” from 1985, singer/songwriter Jules Shear goes spartan with voice and spartan support by a mix and match team of Pepe/p, Sara Lee/b, Joe Majestro/dr, Perr Beekman/g and John Sebastian/harm-autoharp-g for some personal reflections. Lots of folksy troubadour’d moments are heard with guitar, harp and piano on “Sugar All Day” while he trudges with the drums through “Between Hell and Hello”. His delivery is reminiscent of Leo Sayer on the coy “Smart” and the elastic bluesy “Feels Like Fall”. Personal and introspection prevails, as Shear stretches his vocal reach on “It Came From Heaven” and the overall mood of raconteur reflections.
Delicate-voiced Sarah Elizabeth Charles teams with lyrical pianist Jarrett Cherner for a collection of indie sounding duets, mixing bohemian jazz poetry with modern folk. Her gentle voice is occasionally multi-tracked like a sax section on the pretty “CShiningonscious Mind” or like a choir on the earnest “Gloria”. Cherner is a master of setting moods and pace, using the piano strings for pulse on the artsy and personal “Shine On”, dainty on “Speak” and poetic with a frail and vulnerable Charles on her own original “Stardust”. The two take on a Robert Frost poem on the candle-lit “Hanging On To Time” and the two get passionate on Charles’ own “Out Loud” . Minstrel musings.