Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
She's found it again, 21 Jan 2004
Oh, my. I put this cd on today, just after my cassette deck 'died',(so I couldn't restore any old music untila new deck is installed),so had a late breakfast & put this cd in. As I listened to Sonya, again,(again)I slowed down, relaxed, and eventually spread out on the sofa and said, "Oh, yes!"Sonya hasn't done this to me so effectively since Curved Air's "Air Cut", almost 30 years ago. I think my father (almost 80), will dig this one, too. The 'space' twixt Curved Air and this cd reminds me of the 'space' between Brian Eno with Roxy Music and his landmark "Another Green World". This cd breathes, soothes, reassures. For comparison, check Joni Mitchell's cd "Both Sides Now" from a year ago. Both are fully realized works paying homage to favorite songs from a musical era predating their birth, with no hyperactivity, no instrumental over-the-top licks, just a space for a rainy afternoon or a night alone with candlelight or, more simply,moonlight. The arrangements, production and masterful bass & flute-playing bring out the best in Sonya. This is not a Curved Air album (and they were amazing): this is Sonya and her voice, healed, mature, wistful. Yippee! Now I have something to play on those dreary days when all I want is a wee bit of comfort to soldier onwards. Thank you, Ms. Kristina.Do not let this be an end to a stellar life of singing for us.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SONJA KRISTINA – Cri de Coeur (Market Square Records MSMCD 1, 29 Oct 2003
Those of old enough to remember the early 1970s band, Curved Air, will have been struck by the energetic electric violin playing of Darryl Way and Francis Monkman’s innovative bass. The abiding image, indelibly stamped, is with the charismatic presence of lead vocalist, Sonja Kristina who commanded the audience attention.Thirty years on, Sonja has experienced a fitful solo career interspersed with the odd reunion of the band. She’s recorded a new solo album following a ten-year sojourn during which she suffered the same kind of traumatic inertia that has befallen so many talented vocalists. Her last solo outing in 1992 dipped into the intriguingly categorised ‘acid folk’. A decade later, the acid has been diluted and Sonja has opted for a reflective album that turns to jazz and some of the classic greats of the last century. Her performance is as sensuous as it was in her Curved Air days even if the air these days is a little more rarefied. With ‘Cri de Coeur’ she has ventured into the territory occupied by many of the jazz, soul and mainstream greats, like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Hoagy Carmichael. One of the tests of a great singer is if they are able to take great songs and make you sit up and listen. Sonja achieves this throughout the album whether it’s on Arthur Hamilton’s, ‘Cry me a river’, Carmichael’s ‘Skylark’ and the evergreen Cole Porter classic, ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’. There are also some contemporary influences, including Linda Thompson. She is helped in no small measure by a bunch of excellent musicians, featuring the alto sax and flute of Brian Edwards and the strings of Martin Ayres. The latter shares the considerable credit for producing an album that honours a proud genre without being enslaved by it. From the opening track, ‘Don’t explain’, co-written by Billie Holiday, to the reprise of the aforementioned Porter standard, Sonja shows that her ability to interpret and deliver songs, in a sensitive evocative style, puts her on the map as a singer whose voice not only stands the test of time but passes it with flying colours.
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![Heavy Petal [CD + DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i%2BkB4yOWL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Mask Ft Sonja Kristina
~ Sonja Kristina
~ Sonja Kristina
~ Curved Air
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