With a voice that caresses like melted caramel and lyrics that touch the deepest recesses of your emotions, singer/songwriter
Brenda Russell proves that a glowing talent only deepens with time. Her current Hidden Beach Recordings CD,
Paris Rain, represents a welcomed artistic brilliance that has dawned once again on a musical
horizon clouded with sound-alike artists and retread grooves. And those fans of her earliest recordings - as well as recent converts who have heard the beauty of the current project - are celebrating Brenda's return to the marketplace with her first studio album in seven years.
Paris Rain has garnered stellar reviews and new attention for one of pop music's most lyrical and creative artists.
To celebrate the ongoing success of the album and its creator, Hidden Beach has released an enhanced-CD version of Paris Rain, featuring interview segments, artwork, and other exclusive material about the fabulous
Brenda Russell. This exquisitely crafted album is an elegant journey of mood, melody, memory, and, of course, some of the most evocative, intelligent lyrics ever set to music. Author of such gems as "Piano In The Dark," "If Only For One Night," and the much-loved anthem "Get Here," Brenda Russell continues to exercise her miraculous powers of inspirational song craft as well as her richly nuanced voice on the new "Paris Rain," a glorious listening experience that will satisfy the expectations of longtime Russell fans and enchant new listeners.
The title track, "Love And Paris Rain" is an aching, passionate midnight piano sonata with melody and lyrics so
intensely beautiful that it may well take your breath away, while a trip to New York with her daughter (a singer/songwriter in her own right) inspired the Latin-grooved "Walking In New York," with drums by Sheila E., which captures the Saturday-morning wonder of strolling the variety of Big Apple streets at leisure. Friend and collaborator Ivan Lins lends an atmospheric hand on the festival-themed samba, "Please, Felipe," where Brenda takes us to the heart of Rio for a playful, wistful love song. "It's an honor to write lyrics for him because he's such a
brilliant artist," says Brenda of Lins, "and I went to Brazil in my mind to write this." Another album collaboration found Brenda writing with another venerable singer/songwriter, Carole King, on the love song "Move The Moon."
"This album is a totally inspired work, I believe in it so much," says Brenda of Paris Rain, adding that her unique
artistry is divinely inspired. And her belief is shared by her legions of fans, who have given Brenda back the love she invested in Paris Rain. "They respond to all of them, every song," says Brenda of her audiences when she sings her new material. "I do 'Catch On", "Please Felipe", "I do 'She's In Love", "Expect A Miracle" - they love 'em all.
It's such a blessing."