| Issue
#30
Aug. '01
Life is a spiritual
journey, and the music we
listen to as its accompaniment can define that journey into
individualistic segments as
numerous as the thoughts that carry us along. What comes to us divine
throughout
life’s cycle is as unique and varied as each one of us are on
the human scale.
Jennifer
Parsignault, with her 3rd release
“Oh,
My” presents to us a spiritual journey that
coincides with relationships. Born in
France and raised in Boston, MA. Jennifer’s love of music
began with the violin and
moved on to singing, songwriting, production, and engineering along
with piano and
keyboards, and she puts it all to work here fashioning a captivating
disc. Using vocals
(somewhere between Kate Bush and Tori Amos) that borrow heavily from a
myriad of religious
incantations, musical arrangements that take advantage of everything
from stripped down
solo piano accompaniment to full overblown studio production in the
style of the Brill
Building era, and lyrics that capture the essence of love and its
commitment/joy/heartbreak (and the countless other emotions involved
with anything that
incorporates love into our everyday existence) in such a manner that we
can stand at
either side of the bridge she constructs to join the space between both
mortal and
spiritual relationships and see not only where it is coming from, but
where it leads to.
Oh, My
opens with the title
track and a door closing. As the synthesizer accompanies the solo piano
we can’t help
but to feel as though we’ve just entered into some sacred
place, be it a church, a
monastery, or for that matter a confessional – for yes, here
we find a woman pouring
her heart out, her soul seeking the reason, the meaning, of her
existence in relation to
her relationships. When the rest of the instrumentation kicks in
it’s to carry her
along as she seeks confirmation not only for her love of a man - but
also for her love of
god through her love of man. (Do not overlook the closing 30 second
spoken outro, which
leads to…)
…The
religious overtones that span this disc are not presented
outright and are left for each of us to draw our own conclusions,
depending on our own
current mindset of worship. “Believe Me”
pushes this spiritual
double-entendre to the very edge of individual religious beliefs. Using
lyrics heavy in
religious imagery and metaphors, this song brings to mind the
Rice/Webber composition
“I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from Jesus
Christ Superstar. There, Mary
Magdalene questions her love of Christ – where Christ is
established as a man, and a
desirable one at that, when in fact he is the Lord – and it
presents a moral crisis.
Here Jennifer gives us the modern take, where she questions her love of
a man - who in her
eyes has been elevated to
Christ-like status - as the obvious religious aspects point to a
spiritual crisis.
Just as we are
about to question the validity of the spiritual theme
that pervades this CD, “Great Escape”
bursts upon the stage in all
the glitz and glamour of a song that the current girl divas a la
Brittany would sell there
souls to record (in fact Brittany, if you’re reading this
give Jennifer a call,
she’ll set ya straight) a lying, cheating break-up song
that’ll have you looking
for the choreographer as you cheer the girl on.
Mixing up the rest
of the disc we find Jennifer presenting several
more good time dance floor pop beauties along with tender heartfelt
ballads. “Beautiful
One” with it’s early
‘70s Elton John inspired piano is a pure love song that
celebrates the beauty found
in the intimacy of man and woman. “Why”
is another typical
break-up song, but the masterful control of the vocal sentiment and
range that Jennifer
displays incredibly brings to mind that of Judy Garland. “Matter
Of Time”
resurrects the Barry White/Marvin Gaye style of Motown smoky, sensual,
sexual Jazz/Funk
and also walks the line of Southern Baptist church revival flavor.
“Prayer
for ST. Symin” closes the disc. With
a prelude of Cathedral Bells ringing in a slightly off-beat troubled
manner we are shifted
off balance as the hollow/hallow haunting church organ enhances the
metaphor of a bedtime
prayer that is recited to except the end of the day as well as the end
of life “I
lay down / and rest my weary head / sleep / now to dream / again / Long
is waking hour /
and tired / is my heart / time / do carry me / to morrow / come carry
me away / come carry
me away / time I’m ready now / for morrow / Come carry me
away / come carry me away /
time I’m ready now / for morrow / for morrow.”
Causing us to ask what is the
morrow? What lies beyond? What does the morrow hold for us and are we
truly ready? After
listening to Oh, My and traversing with Jennifer
Parsignault along the inner
roads of relationships - be they spiritual or mortal, empty or
fulfilling - we can only be
led to conclude that we are ready for the morrow and whatever it may
present, because of
the joys and simple pleasures of our spiritual journeys that
we’ve experienced in the
course of a day, a relationship, a lifetime, and of course - a musical
interlude. And,
this disc is one of them.
Oh,
My by Jennifer
Parsignault
is available for: $9.98 + s/h*
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