Jacquelyn Brown - Troubadour Harpist

Reviews

Earth Air Fire Water

When people are asked about Celtic and traditional music, most people talk about Loreena McKennitt or the Rankin family. Now we can speak proudly of Jacquelyn Brown, a London-based troubadour harpist...

Her latest release, Earth * Air * Fire * Water has a mystic, tranquil beauty that shines throughout her unique mix of traditional and original pieces...

Jennifer Neil / The Gazette / University of Western Ontario

"Earth Air Fire Water," is the creation of harpist Jacquelyn Brown. She is the Artist-in-Residence at St. Paul's Cathedral. The CD is moving yet blissful. It takes you on flight into your inner self for thematic moments of peace, reunion and renewal. Jacquelyn Brown with this, only her second CD, is already gaining appreciation and acceptance as a wonderfully talented young artist...

It's her second CD and a triumph filled with warmth, mystery and spirituality. Gaelic themes and variations will make this CD hard to take off your player...

Robert Browning / Editor / Huron Church News

This is London harpist and troubadour Jacquelyn Brown's second full length CD, a brilliantly accomplished follow-up to Awakening... the breath of life...

...through some ingenious arrangements which highlight contributions from other musicians ... the range of musical colours in her palette has been greatly and beautifully expanded. Heightening this sense of variety is the sensitive programming of this CD. An elaborate arrangement of (S)he Moved through the Fair built on top of a gorgeous Eastern-flavoured drone ... is followed by sweetest simplicity itself; a tender rendering of a folk ballad classic which many musical scholars attribute to King Henry the VIII of England - Greensleeves...

Of the original songs, Into Darkness, a Christian meditation on death, is the track built around the peel of St. Paul's bells. The title song and The Winds of Love are also first rate songs from Jacquelyn's pen. Voices In The Dark is a piano based and beautifully up-tempo ballad, simple but infectious, and driven by a round-like vocal that really soars. But for me the stand-out original is Black Lagoon - at 7:24 minutes, the longest track here. The lyrics are sad and impressionistic, piling on images of passion and loss. The music swirls voluptuously - both the plucked chords on the harp and Jacquelyn's vocals which go into a wordless keening after each verse. As composer, instrumentalist and singer, Black Lagoon is the perfect showcase for Jacquelyn Brown's many gifts. With Earth Air Fire Water, Jacquelyn Brown has grown from strength to strength and has passed the daunting 'second album' challenge with flying colours. You don't have to listen to her just because she's 'ours'; you have to listen to her because this is stellar music-making.

Herman Goodden / Editor / Scene Magazine





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