| Promise Me is a very nice seven-song
collection of original material written by singer Jan James and guitarist Craig Calvert.
This is the fourth studio album the pair has released since '95 and their previous
experience is obvious in that the CD is well produced and performed. In this era of
"female-fronted" rock bands and so called "Divas" crawling from under
every rock, it's refreshing to hear Jan James' powerful, gritty yet tender voice belting
out well-crafted songs and backed by an array of polished musicians.
The album kicks of with the very catchy rocker
"Run", which is my personal favorite, and moves into the album's single
"Faith". "Faith" is a nice slow tempo rock song that really spotlights
the range of emotions Jan James
is capable of creating with her voice. The capper of the album is the final track, which
was recorded live at the Tonder Festival in Denmark. "Help Me" is a slow,
traditional 12-bar blues and is obviously an opportunity for the band to let loose. The
original 1:41 song is stretched to over 7 minutes and features two great slide guitar
solos by Drew Howard and Craig Calvert, as well as some very nice piano work by Bob Long.
Jan James also shows that she is more than comfortable with a traditional Blues feel by
just wailing through this one. I'm tempted to suggest that she stick to this style but I
like her rock stuff too much.
My only criticism on Promise Me is that there is a
slight variance in the production quality throughout the album. The six studio cuts were
recorded at five different studios by four different producers or teams. This resulted in
inconsistent drum and guitar tones, with some better than others. Jan's voice, however,
sounds great on every track and these slight variances in production are by no means a
major flaw.
So, Promise Me is just a great CD from a pair of
Chicago-based artists. Jan James had to look to Europe for a record deal in the past and I
hope that soon she will receive more recognition here in the States. She is a serious
talent and one that Chicago music fans should not take for granted.
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