CD Review: Jaclyn Guillou - The Lover’s Walk

Jaclyn Guillou (vocals); Bram Weijters (piano); Piet Verbist (bass); Toon Van Dionant (drums).

(Review by Ann Alex).

Jaclyn Guillou hails from Canada and this is her second album.  All the songs were written by Ms Guillou with the exception of Restless and Burning Question, for which the pianist wrote the tunes. Three of the 7 tracks are noted on the insert as ‘recommended’ which I thought was odd, as surely the producers of a CD should recommend all the tracks!

Ms Guillou sings in a sweet tone with a pleasant nasal quality but there were some words which I couldn’t quite make out.  The songs are said to be an evocation of the ‘path of love’, and there are distinct influences of Joni Mitchell on tracks such as Restless. The more-than-competent musicians get a fair amount of solo work, notably on If You with its effective bass solo and offbeat piano, and on Sometimes, which gives us a lively, jazzy piano.  However I found the CD generally to be a little dreary and the songs were ok rather than especially interesting.   

The CD was released earlier this year - details..
Ann Alex