Good News on the Crumbling Walls

“... A magnificent album with fascinating eclecticism...” —François Desmeules, Voir

“Eclectic, joyous, yes. Vague, elitist, never...” —Sylvain Cormier, Le Devoir

“The intoxicating Karen Young [...] sings in English and French with dramatic, sophisticated poise and is clearly at ease with diverse material...” —Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star

“Karen Young has reached a point in her career when people no longer bother trying to peg her down. Karen is simply Karen; like Diamanda Galas, Kate Bush and Laurie Anderson, she's a complete performer, a pure note emerging out of white noise. Good News On The Crumbling Walls has its source nowhere and everywhere, either a product of our collective unconscious or the natural next step in the progression of music. ” —The Mirror

Description

In ’93, my Disques URSH partner and I prepared a marathon of song interpretation at Le Théatre des Quatre Sous. It was quite easy to prepare because I had sung or had dreamed of singing so many songs in so many styles that it was just begging to come out. I also knew great musicians, especially the extremely versatile Norman Lachapelle, who played bass and/or piano almost every night, to help me make it happen. I divided it into five nights:

1) The classical night was Early Music in the first set with Sylvain Bergeron and Isabelle Marchand from La Nef. This was definately the initial inspiration for Canticum Canticorum years later. And the second set was with Helmut Lipsky on violin and Mariko Sato on piano. We interpreted more modern classics.

2) The second night was a short history of jazz, sung with a trio of accoustic piano, bass and drums in the first set, and B3 in the second, played by the incredible Tim Jackson. We were doing the repertoire we had developed together over the years.

3) The third night we divided into three parts : Chanson, folk and country. I had a newfound interest in some french classics, and Norman was the perfect piano accompanist. For country I had musicians from my brother, Doug’s band, Back Roads, with whom I had sung over the years. And folk went back to my tormenting my little brother and teaching him harmonies in the ‘60s.

4) The fourth night was so much fun. I have many musical friends from other cultures and we threw together a night with over 20 singers and musicians, performing Bulgarian, Greek, African, Argentinian and Native songs.

5) The last night showed me I am not a rock-blues singer, but it was fun anyway, with Jimmy James, that most subtile of blues guitarists. I just had to do an acid rock medley, all those songs I had listened to as a teenager. But when we went to blues, I lost my voice for a month with Jimmy Zeller! Good News on the Crumbling Walls is the result of this wild event. We had to choose from about 100 songs. People told me I was crazy to try to put so many styles on one record. But it has to be seen for what it is; a celebration of Music, from many times and many places, with many musical friends. Art and music are, after all, the soul of humans and their hopes, disapointments and passions.

Good news (Karen Young & Doug Young)
Give away (Karen Young & Doug Young)
Vieux Ford “55” (Coco Miron)
Candombe (Gustavo Cabilli)
Guiné (El Hadji N'Dyiaye)
Afro blue (Oscar Brown & Mongo Santamaria)
Summer time (Dubose Heyward & George Gershwin)
Kokvo etsvete (Trad. Bulgare)
Nana (Manuel Lafalla)
Le chat du café des artistes (Jean-Pierre Ferland)
Billion dollar loan shark (Karen Young & Michel Donato)
System (Karen Young & Michel Donato)
God song (Randy Newman)
Dido’s lament (Henri Purcell)
Who (Karen Young & Michel Donato)

Production — Karen Young, Jean Lacasse
Arrangement — Karen Young, with:
Sylvain Bergeron (9)
Gustavo Cabilli (4)
Jean-Sébastien Fournier (2)
Norman Lachapelle (1, 10)
Helmut Lipsky (14)
Sylvain Provost (1)

MUSICIANS and VOICES
Jean-Sébastien Fournier — synthesizer, kalimba
Norman Lachapelle —electric and acoustic bass
Sylvain Provost — guitar
And many others: Sylvain Bergeron, Camille Bélisle, Glenn Bowser, Gustavo Cabilli, Lana Carbonneau, Jean Comeau, Pierre Côté, Coral Egan, Mario Labrosse, Helmut Lipsky, Francine Martel, Michel Morin, Yvon Plouffe, Mariko Sato, Gisèle Savaria, Guy Thouin, Doug Young

SOUND
Recorded at Studio Divan Vert
Engineer — Jean-Jacques Bourdeau, Joe Petrella
Mix — Jean-Jacques Bourdeau, Karen Young, Jean-Sébastien Fournier (for 2)

COVER
Design — Sebastien Toupin
Photos — Jean-François Gratton

Critics

The intoxicating Karen Young
Montreal vocalist at Harbourfront on heels of exotic disc
Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star

Montreal vocalist Karen Young is always welcome in town, a treat even for those unfamiliar with her exotic work in the past with bassist Michel Donato.

Starting tonight, her intoxicating voice can be heard for the next three evenings at Harbourfront's du Maurier Theatre, with a band of leading Quebecois musicians — pianist Jean-Sebastien Fournier, guitarist Ben Charest, bassist Norman Guilbeault and drummer Magella Cormier.

Sure to be on the musical menu will be material from her splendid new CD Good News On The Crumbling Walls (URSH), 15 songs that include sardonic Young-Donato creations “System” and “Billion Dollar Loan Shark” in an eclectic collection that draws inspiration from jazz, funk, worldbeat, Latin, African and country sources. There's even a taste of Randy Newman, Bulgarian folk song tradition and George Gershwin (a brilliant Summer Time).

Employing 20 musicians, Young sings in English and French with dramatic, sophisticated poise and is clearly at ease with diverse material — equally attractive are Oscar Brown's jazzer “Afro Blue”, the sweet lullaby “Nana” and the gospelly “God Song”.

Diva Karen Young brings “dead” music to life
Nathalie-Roze Fischer, Now Magazine

Ex-Folkie turned jazz experimentalist Karen Young is an anglophone Quebecoise whose acrobatic vocals and musical eclectism resist being neatl pigeonholed. Her impressive career, spanning two decades, is a rich sonic collage of thoughtful explorations into the diverse veins of medieval Bulgarian choral music, latin balladry, lounge-wizard jazz, African and Haitian roots rythms and even super-twangy country — performed in French. This multicultural approach is thickly underlined by Young's unique brand of contemporary jazz.

Good News On The Crumbling Walls, Young's latest album, is a worldbeat buffet that maintains an appealing duality in its balance of tradition and textural innovation. Her elastic vocals showcase a brilliant range that stretches from a feathery quiver to a ripping wail. Like Björk, Young uses her voice like an instrument and does so with deft precision. Certain tracks allude to Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard, while others echo vintage Joni Mitchell. Comparisons to opera goddess Jessye Norman are also quite valid. But it's Young's ability to perform in foreign tongues with a conviction that goes beyond language that is her artistic stamp.