This is John (no Uncle for once) from behind Claudia's computer ... OK, I'm supposed to be writing the Jonifest report, but I want to get this out of my system first.
I heard Patti Witten perform at the Jonifest. I had heard OF Patti Witten before. Her CDs were very favourably reviewed in the Dutch magazine, Heaven. She got four stars out of five from someone whose opinion I highly trust (Jo and I wrote the review for Joni's Both Sides Now together - It's on the JMDL website). I translated the review for Patti when we met on the list. The translation is at the bottom of this message. Yes, Patti Witten is a JMDL member. And four out of five stars sucks. Because Land of Souvenirs is five stars. Full stop. It is mesmerizing, poetic (very poetic), warm, mysterious, deep, lyrically blessed and musically spell-binding at times. It's extremely well pproduced. It blows me away. And Prairie Doll is beautiful, too. Now, how do I put this. We all like Joni. Many of us like Shawn Colvin, Sara McLachlan, Jonatha Brooke, Lucinda Williams. We are talking this level. Patti is up there, with them. And not because she is a list member. The albums are great by any singer/songwriter standard. I would have raved about Land of Souvenirs just as much, had the office in the Netherlands sent the CD to me instead of to my colleague, Jo. Does she play Joni songs on the CD? No. Just go to one of her concerts and ask her to play Hejira. She did so at the Jonifest at the Full Moon and hit me straight in the heart. She plays her own songs on both CDs and they are of stunningly high quality. And so is the instrumentation and the overall sound production. Am I on commission? No. I just want everyone to know what exceptional talent we have among us. And I want EVERYONE to buy the CD(s). Anywhere. Pester your local record shop for all I care, go to Patti's website, www.pattiwitten.com (and listen), buy it at CDBaby, I don't care ... anyone who is so talented deserves great sales! Am I over the top here? Perhaps. All I know is that Claud and I have been playing both CDs almost incessantly over the past few days and that they grew with every playing. PATTI, THIS IS HEART-TOUCHING STUFF !! >From midnight Baltimore (hit by Dutch weather) John van Tiel o-o-o-o-o Appendix: The review in the Dutch Indie magazine, Heaven (May 2002): Patty Witten LAND OF SOUVENIRS **** Private Issue Patty Witten & Prairie Doll PRAIRIE DOLL ***1/2 Potentfolk Records BEAUTIFUL AND TIMELESS Heaven is not showing its most up-to-date side with this review: LAND OF SOUVENIRS already appeared in 1999, the mini CD PRAIRIE DOLL one year later. Neither of the albums were released in the Netherlands, however. Now that we have discovered9 her, we may conclude that we are dealing with a major talent here. Witten appears to be a more than excellent singer-songwriter who deserves attention. LAND OF SOUVENIRS contains twelve class songs of the kind that sound as if they have always been around. It is dangerous to draw comparisons, but if you can imagine a cross between Joni Mitchell (in the days of BLUE) and Lucinda Williams, you will get a good idea of Witten9s music. We should immediately add, however, that this American woman has enough character of her own to justify her own musical existence. The overall sound is determined by acoustic and electric guitars, along with Witten9s somewhat thin but nevertheless beautiful voice. The clear, poppy production provides a nice finish. The only point of criticism I might have is the lack of variation both in tempo (mid-tempo or slow) and in atmosphere (relaxed, melancholic). This same positive and slightly negative criticism also applies to the mini album, PRAIRIE DOLL, that she recorded with her band of the same name. The six songs on this album are, again, strong compositions dominated by guitars and vocals. Witten9s country music influences emerge slightly stronger here, but this intermezzo (?) is basically a continuation of LAND OF SOUVENIRS. This kind of music is in no way innovative, it is just plain beautiful and timeless. Apparently, Witten is working on a new album that is to appear this year. Keep an eye on this lady. Jo Didderen (Source: Heaven 4-3, May/June 2002, The Netherlands/Belgium) Star Rating Heaven Magazine * mediocre ** reasonable *** good, recommended to people who like the genre **** very good, recommended ***** outstanding, a classic PS. Oh, and Patti ... Get yourself another designer for the cover of your next CD. It's probably the only thing of Land of Souvenirs that I do not like. And get that next one out quick. Can't wait. John
