WENDY WEBB

  “The songs are heart sprung, tender and tough, fragile and enduring. Some are jazzy, sung with sass and echoes of Carole KIng and Ricky Lee Jones. Others are moody, full of wee hours wisdom, or yearning and soul stirring, soaring toward heights flown by the likes of Joni Mitchell and Emmy Lou Harris. Webb is a newcomer whose music is mined in the timeless chambers of the human heart.”

                                                                                                    - Steven Dougherty, senior writer, People Magazine

“ The angelic range and hard-grit soul of Wendy Webb’s voice rivals that of Emmy Lou Harris. Who would have thought that in our lifetime there would be another with a talent so pure.”

                                                                                                          - Lorian Hemingway, author of “Walk On Water”

  “Laura Nyro lives! I mean that as the highest compliment. What a pleasure to listen to Wendy Webb play her piano and sing her breathtaking songs. I could go on for hours talking about her complex lyrics, but it is the sound of her voice that I find so haunting, the achingly beautiful voice of real experience. This seems to me real heartfelt music -- an endangered species in today’s lets-make-a-quick-buck popular culture -- from a woman who has lived a full life asking those adult questions of herself and of the people she loves, not at high noon when it is always easy to put a smiley face on matters, but long after midnight when the shadows remain hidden.

I’m bowled over by Wendy Webb.

                                                                                               - Jeff Klinkenberg, columnist for St. Petersburg Times

“Wendy Webb’s precise vocal nuances breathe life and meaning into her new CD Morning In New York with such winners as “Shadows and the Fire,” an intricate sojourn into the ultimate contrasts of darkness and flame. Her songwriting prowess leads to disarmingly intimate confessions such as “You were chasing my disguise/Such a tattered naked lie."

Wendy’s her own woman with her own way of bending the notes and twisting the words into lyrics that plummet deep into the epicenter of those who love or at least try to love. Her messages wander from musical to mystical, from juiced to jaded, as her creative honesty lures the listener simultaneously into both her heart and her hurt. “Fantasia Extreme,” for example, shimmers with this revelation: “This time it really brought me down/and I ain’t never flown this close to the ground.”

“In the title cut, Webb dissects the dual entities of the Big Apple and the relationships that are the core of her life, examines them with forensic fervor, and reconstructs the city and herself in the process.”

These musical portraits stretch the canvas of life with vignettes that range from dark images that would do a latter day Van Gogh proud to gentle Andrew Wyeth style landscapes that color “Paradise Street.”

“This is not only survival of the fittest, it’s survival of the finest – warts, worries and wonders jumbled in a mixed bag of despair, hope, laughter and tears. The beautiful chanteuse renders it all with the rare ability to alter viewpoints and change perceptions within the limited real time of a CD.”

“Bolstered by a style that vacillates from down-home funk to uptown opera, Wendy Webb displays a special talent that deserves to be discovered and cherished.”


        - Gerry Wood, former Editor-in-Chief, Billboard, New York City and author of “Tales From Country Music”

  "Wendy Webb's Moon on Havana is intelligent, complicated and above all musical. Webb sings with such emotional investment--jubilant, rueful, whatever she needs--that the listener has that rarest experience: of being swept away."

     - Tom McGuane, Author, recipient of the Wallace Stegner Award, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters 

"Wendy Webb's evocative voice and resonant lyrics, sung over deceptively complex compositions, are nothing less than haunting."

                                           -Tim Cahill is Founding Editor, Outside Magazine, Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone

  "I was spellbound when I heard Wendy Webb put life's emotions into song. Like Loreena McKennitt, her voice is a beautifully played instrument of original music that comes from the heart. Listeners will swear she wrote them just for them."                                 

                                                                                               - Robert N. Macomber, award-winning Florida novelist

“Platinum plated singer-songwriter AOR of the highest order, ...."

FATEA - RECORDS UK

Reviews

Wendy Webb

Album: This Is The Moment

Label: Spooky Moon Records

Tracks: 11

Had I not known otherwise, I could easily have been persuaded that this was some long lost, undiscovered gem from the halcyon era of Laurel Canyon singer-songwriters. Indeed, the opening track, ‘Venus Is Rocking In The Cradle Of the Moon’, prompted a vision of Webb as a female Jackson Browne, with the song conjuring both in its music and lyrics (though the latter are actually by Charles John Quarto), the classic moments of ‘Everyman’ and ‘Late For The Sky’.

It turns out, however, that Webb, who’s surely related to Jim by talent if not by blood, comes from Iowa and, now based in Florida, this is her fourth, having released her debut in 2003. Listening further, while Browne remains a reference point - and an acknowledged influence - closer comparisons would be to Carole King (especially on the sax stained ‘Western Channel Of The Sky’), Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro and the now sadly largely forgotten Wendy Waldman, although, having said that, there’s definite touches of ‘Moondance’ warm soul Morrison to ‘This Is The Moment’ and the lovely You’re My Friend’.

Working in an array of musical colors that draws upon folk, pop, jazz, and the blues, and backed by a trio that handles guitars, acoustic bass, percussion, strings and horns while she plays piano and occasional acoustic guitar, her superbly modulated voice rises and falls across songs that, ripe with nature imagery, address relationships, dreams and vignettes of America.

‘Florida’ itself is a piano led love letter to her adopted home, but the state also figures in the sea-themed ‘Homespun’, which (with a piano line evocative of Roy Bittan’s work for Springsteen) references Sanibel and the Everglades as she sings “I comb the beach of consequence, I calibrate the waves, I christen every ghost ship that forever freed the slaves.” There’s a wider vista to ‘Big Blue Sky’ as she puts aside “the prisons of the past” heads out across America in company with the ghosts of Kerouac and Cash, visiting “the western shore where I was born” and the river that flows from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.

The sea washes up too on the heady reminiscences of love in the quivering vocal, classical guitar-accompanied melancholic blues 'I Will Remember' (a touch of Janis Ian here, perhaps) and the piano-backed mood picture of ‘Long Day In The Sun’ where, “salt sweat on my skin”, she sings of the ocean and the miracle of life.

There’s not a remotely weak track here, but, along with ‘Venus’, I’m particularly taken with ‘All The Boys On Saturday’, a sepia-toned meditation on years past and lost innocence with its lines about bored young boys and darling dancing girls heading for the downtown ballrooms seeking the tenderness of a first caress and “chasing dreams down the boulevard”. Platinum plated singer-songwriter AOR of the highest order, had Webb indeed been around in the early 70’s, she too might be a legend now. I see no reason why that can’t start here.

Mike Davies

UK

12-12-15

GERMANY - This Is The Moment

TRANSLATION

1-4-2016

Musikansich

MUSIC AND SUCH

12-11-2015

Wolfgang Giese

Well, that's a positive discovery once! Quickly, we usually notice after some of the songs, whether one encounters artists that speak their voice, can handle it, be it in terms of the design, the individuality or other features.

Wendy Webb can sing really well, she uses her mood perfectly, sometimes I wish it but a little more in the foreground, for the one or the other instrument shoving himself but then and when in the foreground.

In addition is positive, that the music immediately forced to listen, Yes, she shapes up spontaneously, she looks attractively, and arouses strong associations with colleagues such as Joni Mitchell and Carole King with me, and it resonates with a lot of those feelings that singer/songwriters of the seventies coined certain panels of genre, full of poetic and simply beautiful-sounding elements.

This album is the fourth of the singer living now in Florida, pianist, songwriter, and guitarist from Iowa, after the debut of the year 2003, "Morning In New York". It is rich in emotional expression, very impressed has for example "You're My Friend", particularly appropriate is also a saxophone is aptly used in this context, to hear for example on "Western Channel Of The Sky".

The song accompanied only with a guitar is very nice "I Will Remember", very powerful in her intimate and simple accompaniment, the recorded with piano accompaniment ""Florida" is a declaration of love for the homeland and is one of the highlights of this disc, which is filled with wonderful melodies and radiates tremendous harmony." Actually, there are no weak song, the music emits a concentrated positive force as a unit.

RATING -19

Wolfgang Giese

00 to 05*not recommend

06 to 10*with (large) Restrictions recommend

11 to 15*(mainly for fans) recommend

16 to 18*very recommendable

19 to 20*Star Performer

Musikansich

WENDY WEBB – THIS IS THE MOMENT

Written In Music   ( journalist - Cis Van Looy) - Netherlands - Translation

"Wendy Webb is an excellent singer and an equally excellent pianist. That leads to very beautiful ballad work. that at moments to Carole King reminds as the title song unequivocally illustrates....."

4 stars (of 5)   —— Review under POP

10 december 2015

Written by Cis van Looy on 12-10-2015

Written In Music

This Is The Moment

Moors Magazine -Netherlands

" This lady made a album of absolute world class.  An absolute must."

Holly Moors

February 11 ,2016

MOORS MAGAZINE

WENDY WEBB "This Is The Moment"

I was thinking that this was nice country rock as the album started, but Wendy Webb had a few tricks up her sleeve. Her vocals had some surprising soulful qualities and the backing musicians enhanced this ever so subtly. The brass helped out and the rhythm players could swing just enough. The organ was also prevalent throughout and was a welcome addition to the basic expected instrumentation. Webb is originally from Iowa, but now lives in Florida and I would imagine those diverse environments certainly help the creative juices flow when it comes to song writing. At least based on what I am hearing, there is enough creativity coming from somewhere, as these songs are quite good.

David Hintz

# 59  March 2016

FOLKWORLD

ROOTSVILLE - Blues, Jazz, & Roots

BELGIUM - March 2016

TRANSLATION

'Big Blue Sky' is a beauty of an Americana song.

...Wendy Webb creates her own poetic sound. Tracks like opener 'Venus Is Rocking In The Cradle Of The Moon' and  'My Beatng Heart', immediately says that Wendy Webb's the heart in the right place. All lyrics are steeped in emotions and accompanied by beautiful music which you do dream repeatedly as with  'Homespun'.

(Dutch to English translation)

ROOTSVILLE

"This is a fine record and the mark of a gifted, mature and talented artist. " 

LONESOME HIGHWAY

IRELAND

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 AT 09:22AM

Webb is a very accomplished singer-songwriter ...with a wonderfully rich voice .....song arrangements are very much in a contemporary Folk style and are filled with superb playing, excellent melody and rhythm....elements of jazz and blues incorporated into the rich production by Danny Morgan and John McLane, which is bright and full of space for the musicians to stretch their talents.

The sweet, moody flow of tracks like My Beating Heart, Homespun, All the Boys on Saturday and I Will Remember set the atmosphere into one of gentle seduction and a knowing empathy with the melting pot of life.

Big Blue Sky is her road song about striking out for the horizon and letting life unfold along the way. Long Day in the Sun closes the record in fine style with the lines; ‘But I believe in the miracle of my life; loving endlessly, I’m forever free’. This is a fine record and the mark of a gifted, mature and talented artist.  

Paul McGee  LONESOME HIGHWAY

STRUTTER MAGAZINE ...Melody Central

Holland January 2016

written by Gabor Kleinbloesem, Editor of Strutter

"Wendy Webb delivers a lovely 4th album....beautiful voice and songs that take you back to the innocence of the 1970s when this kind of music was very common on the radio...the album feels very natural from start to finish... high quality release."

... high-class repertoire, sung with extreme grace and poetry, evocative and heartfelt."

PLANET COUNTRY

April 7, 2016

ITALY

"This Is The Moment" (from the title, significant) can establish a consecration in Europe too, thanks to a high- class repertoire, sung with extreme grace and poetry, evocative and heartfelt. "Western Channel Of The Sky" looks like something out of "Famous Blue Raincoat", historical tribute to Leonard Cohen by Jennifer Warnes in the 1980s, one of the most intense moments of the album, sung with great pathos and a sax that paints painful notes but fascinating. ”All The Boys On Saturday" see Wendy Webb alone at the top in another interpretation to be framed, pure poetry.  Yet to emphasize the magnificent melody of "Big Blue Sky", inspiring.....

Remo Ricaldone

PLANET COUNTRY

TRANSLATION LINK - then click on "Articles in Italian"

http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/WendyWebb/

FATEA - RECORDS - UK - Jan. 2017

"Wendy Webb pushes her way into the first group of international musicians in the field of singer / songwriter.

Every single song is a gem in itself.."

Translation:

Every single song is a gem in itself....so it is hard for me to sing a favorite song. This is music in the best tradition of the seventies, as it was once created by Carole King or Joni Mitchell. For me, Wendy Webb clearly belongs to this group of female songwriters, because the level is very high.

RATING 19 (of 20)

Wolfgang Giese

http://www.musikansich.de/review.php?id=17788

Step Out Of Line

BENELUX - Muziekwereld - Feb. 2017

BELGIUM -  KEYS & CHORDS - Feb 2017

Translation:

"Wendy Webb is a master at writing ballads.

Deliciously spicey... endearing... breathtaking... sublime. An album that holds your attention."

Wendy Webb is a master at writing ballads. Her beautiful, slightly melancholic-sounding voice is perfect for this work.  (4 stars)

Lambert Smits

BELGIUM -  ROOTSVILLE - Blues, Jazz & Roots - Feb 2017

BELGIUM -  ROOTSTIME - Feb 2017

*****(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’

"…This is Premier Division song writing. Add to that a glorious voice and faultless production-values, this has all the hallmarks of a winner indelibly etched into it, from the get-go".

That voice, shivers down the spine time on every track."

One of the best female voices I have laid ears on in a very long time. Her mahoosively gorgeous album 'Step Out Of Line'... this really is an album that needs to be heard by many. When you hear it, you can thank me later…

The voice. The voice. No, not that TV talent show with the spinning red chairs and the mad as a box of frogs Will.i.am. No, I am talking about the discovery of one of the best female voices I have laid ears on in a very long time.

Introducing Ms. Wendy Webb and her mahoosively gorgeous album, “Step Out Of Line.” She certainly cannot be accused of doing that across this inspirational 10-track gem. See what I did there?  The uber-talented American singer-songwriter has a crystal clear purity and a soothing delivery; her tone lends itself to be compared to the likes of Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and for me, Judy Collins, in timbre and tone. And in sheer quality and class, too.

Shivers down the spine time on every track. I cannot believe I had not heard any of her music before this release, and I read in the PR blurb that she has dropped four albums ahead of this one. I shall definitely be dipping into that back catalogue, pronto.

Who is she? An Iowa girl, from a big family who owned an old upright piano. Dusty Springfield’s voice coming over the radio airwaves lit the flame inside Wendy, to pursue singing as a career. Her Dad bought her the Dusty record and a guitar, and her Mum got her a Joan Baez songbook of classic English ballads. Ms Wendy taught herself to play guitar and piano.

After leaving home, spinning Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell albums further emphasised a burning desire to be a singer. After a move to L.A, Wendy ran into Joni Mitchell’s engineer, Henry Lewy, who offered her studio time and some valuable mentoring. This was a gift in her apprenticeship and learning curve as a recording artist. She now lives on Sanibel Isand, Florida and has performed across the USA, Cuba, Paris and more.

The new record gives us nine original songs, plus a haunting electric piano rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Girl From The North Country’, a stunning tribute that pays homage to her Midwestern roots. The album was written in Nashville, and recorded in a private house in Music City with her co-writer and producer Mark Keller, and a stellar cast of Nash Vegas’ major league players. Legendary musicians Wayne Jackson (R.I.P.) of the Memphis Horns, David Grissom, Mark T Jordan, Willie Weeks and Dan Dugmore were on the team. As it was a house in town, busy studio session players stopped by after their day sessions to play on what Wendy originally thought would be “artful demos”.

But when she heard fabulous moments such as Wayne Jackson, founding member of the iconic Memphis Horns, blowing a stunning trumpet solo on the title cut, in the living room. Sax legend Jim Horn blowing the house down on ‘Destiny’s Muse’, in the dining room, she began to realise that these were far from just demo sessions. Wendy sang and played piano on Dylan’s ‘Girl From The North Country’ live in the living room and Dan Dugmore added the blissful pedal steel solo. It really was a case of “Wendy’s in da house” and she’s brought along some fabulous house guests too!”

It is ‘a given’ that the musicianship is top drawer and her vocal really is something very special. Had the material been “good”, these master craftsmen (and woman) could have sprinkled some magic dust on top and probably made good songs into very good songs. As it is; the material would stand up on its own in raw voice and guitar/voice and piano format, of that I am positive.

Even before the guys got hold of the charts and got to grips with the mysterious and unique Nashville numbers system (Google it!) and graced the tracks with their skills. But this is Premier Division song writing. Add to that a glorious voice and faultless production-values, this has all the hallmarks of a winner indelibly etched into it, from the get-go.

Like the very best artists who lift words off the page and do not just sing ‘em, but make an emotional and spiritual connection between those words and you the listener, Wendy is a trader of the lost art; making it sound like she’s in the room with you, singing just to you and for you. Think of James Taylor and how he can do that on everything he sings. That voice, shivers down the spine, creating a rare intimacy.

Wendy Webb does that too. Seemingly with ease. Do not underestimate that art. Not one Nano-second where the feeling dips or tails off. Another thing I do not take for granted, having been reviewing music for nigh on four decades; is the art of assembling the tracks of an album in exactly the right order; so they fit together next to each other seamlessly, so the thing flows at the right pace.

Taking you on that journey as smoothly as possible. The quality control filter of what makes the final cut on a record and what you leave off, and the positioning of the tracks, can make or break the impact of an album for me. The difference between an ‘even listen’ and a bumpy ride; where you might want to fast forward now and again. None of that here. In these days of cherry-picking odd tracks for download and streaming, instead of listening to a full body of work as a complete album, that skill of track listing is perhaps not seen as important any more. Well, it is. Even though Wendy’s voice is a strong one, perhaps there is also a wee touch of fragility and vulnerability about it. Maybe it is her natural vibrato that does that.

As our venerable columnist Alan Cackett discusses in his latest (March) column, “Off The Record with Alan Cackett,” this month (see our Features Zone), people bandy about the label “Americana” these days as often as Trump changes his mind about his policies, or “alternative facts” as we may like to call them. That label of “Americana” has been hung around this singer’s neck and been said about this album. For me; it is American, but not really Americana. It is not pure country and nor is it folk.  Maybe this really is “World Music.” It is music, of course, and it truly deserves to be heard worldwide. She knows exactly who she is and there’s no hint of trend chasing or being dictated to by the suits. File under “wow”.

Track four, “Destiny’s Muse” is achingly beautiful. Lump in the throat time, prompted by that emotion-soaked vocal and the weeping pedal steel part. A stunning song and vocal performance to match. The steel and sax licks are the icing on a very moreish cake. The sparseness of the production values, with Wendy’s vocal sat on top of just the electric piano, is spot on.  The following cut, “Mexico,” is very Joni – another electric piano cut. Such an innately sweet vocal.

“Camden Town” is Sheryl Crowe territory. A ditty about London’s trendy and hippy Camden market. I love that place and have lost myself there for many hours over several decades of visiting. The harmony vocals are sublime. It’s got a bit of a Neil Young ‘Harvest Moon’ vibe to it. Cracking track with some lovely grunged-up West Coast guitar licks from David Grissom. A song she re-visits from her “Moon On Havana” album, and extends the running time for this version and a fatter arrangement.

Wendy’s previous album was called “This Is The Moment”. I think that title actually sums up this record better. Not so much a job, as a calling; you can really hear that here. I know that us music writers can get a tad verbose sometimes, and prone to gush once in a while; urging readers to “grab a copy now….”. But this really is an album that needs to be heard by many. When you hear it, you can thank me later…

Simon Redley

***** 5 stars

http://www.muziekwereld.com/wendy_webb.1.htm

Jan 22, 2018

Wendy Webb – Step Out Of Line

"An all star line up of musicians and it shows. Strong voice, soulful with a touch of country, with a plus that it doesn’t immediately remind me of anyone else, and the self penned material holds up well, with strong melodies and hooks, and she makes the one cover her own. Another one who does her own bvs to create a great blend. Class act!"

“Wendy Webb is an otherworldly talent, her writer's gift for lyricism as rare as the beauty she and her music possess.”

- Peter Matthiessen, Author, co-founder of The Paris Review, he is the only writer to have won the National Book Award in both fiction and nonfiction.

S P O O K Y

M O O N

R E C O R D S

More Reviews and Quotes from previous albums - USA

"Morning In New York"

"Moon On Havana"

"Edge Of Town"

Artist:Wendy Webb

Album: Silver Lining

Label: Spooky Moon

Tracks: 11

Website: https://www.wendywebbmusic.com

In a just world, Webb's name would be spoken alongside such greats as Mitchell, King, Ian and Nyro, her music evoking the timeless soulful classic sound of 70s Laurel Canyon and New York lofts. This is her sixth album and one couched in laid back, early hours tones tinged with shades of folk, jazz and blues, getting underway with the dreamy piano ballad 'This Is Love', her voice flowing through the lyrics like honey, faint echoes of Wedding Bell Blues ringing in the distance. She brings a Latin sway, Spanish guitar and Ian colours to 'Old Blue Panama', a co-write with poet and spiritual teacher Charles John Quatro, its rhythm and melody reflecting the relaxed, at one with the cosmos vibe to such lyrics as "The way an oyster gathers pearls/And the wind taught me to listen/So I'm a willing grinning victim/In the lunar system".

The tempo ups slightly for another dip into romantic waters with 'Love Is Gonna Treat You Right' ("All the clouds are gone from my eyes/Now that we belong it's no surprise/That I'm gonna love you all my life…We're gonna have a house by the bay/And we can be alone every day") before easing into a contemplative piano-accompanied cover of the Lerner/Loewe evergreen 'I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face' from My Fair Lady, her vocals no such much singing as caressing the lyrics.

A roll of cymbals introduces the electric piano backed 'Jasmine Nights', enfolded in the sort of country soul fragrances Bonnie Raitt brought to her cover of 'I'm Blowin' Away' that do indeed make you want to go out 'Dancin' in the moonlight' as she softly reflects on "words that I've said/Those broken ties and scattered lives and I can't forget", the reference to jasmine not the only thing that calls Seals & Croft's 'Summer Breeze' to mind.

Leaning on the deeper piano notes, 'Timeless Love' is a late night jazzy gospel blues that you could hear Billie Holiday singing, the Latin textures returning as undercurrents on 'I've Never Been To Argentina', which offsets the limits of her globetrotting with having deeply explored the continent of love.

John McLane's horns burnish the lazing 'Rhythm Of Your Love' which imagines what vintage Van Morrison might sound like filtered through a Janis or early Joni lens before Cowboy Eddie Long sits on dobro for the slow walking country gospel 'Blue Skies On The Way', her voice riding the vocal range as she sings how "my heartaches have all been replaced/By the sweet words you said today" and that "many lessons I have learned/But it's love that's always come first".

Backed by electric piano, 'Children on the Blue' was written for her father about growing up "With eyes that open wide/In the stories that you told/In the memories that you hold", of leaving the nest ("So I sailed off on my own/Far away from home") and of the legacy she carries with her ("So now your path we would borrow/Set on a course for tomorrow/This part of me is a part of you").

Driven by McClane's drum and again with punching horns, it ends with the uptempo, rhythmically rolling along title track which, as it suggests, is all about looking on the bright side and seeing opportunities whenever "the road got strange" with "every new turn a tale unknown" and for "All the games that people play" to "keep remembering/Every bit of luck that came my way". She does indeed look at clouds from both sides now.

One for perhaps a more seasoned listening audience, but if your collection includes any or all of New York Tenderberry, Blue, Tapestry or Aftertones, then this really should be filed alongside them.

Mike Davies - UK - FATEA RECORDS

https://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/WendyWebb3/