I dedicate this album to the memory of David Jacobs; a great friend to me and to jazz. Thank God that doing what I do has brought me into contact with people like David – who don’t put up with “One day when I’ve got the time…” or “If I was good enough I’d do…” . They can spot an excuse at twenty paces! David was one of life’s energisers – he made you make things happens by showing you how insignificant the obstacles were! Thank you David.

Moving shadows didn’t happen – it evolved! I’ve been working with Charlie and Julie forever so we occasionally get those spooky moments when you seem to know what’s coming next; little magic moments! And the rest of the time I just feel safe in their hands to explore – knowing they’ll be there to put me straight when I get a bit lost – as I inevitably do! Originally, we only intended to record one track; Nature Boy, because a radio producer who’d played my own songs had asked if I sang standards. But Nature Boy worked so quickly on the day that we decided to plough on with some other songs we’d been gigging regularly. We came out with eight tracks that day – so the decision was quickly made to go for an album. Hope you like the title, it’s a lyric from one of the songs on the album – there’s a little teaser for you!

Thanks first of all to Julie and Charlie – it was like doing an album with my brother and sister – except one’s my husband – does that make sense? No? Good Thanks to Paul for the warm welcome. Thanks to Evi and to Robin for the amazing photography! Thanks to Steve for warming us all up so nicely – no he’s not the heating engineer! Thanks to Evi and Robin for the beautiful photography. And finally thanks to Neil – chief badgerer, for doing it so firmly yet politely!

A Taste of Honey
Julie told me this was the first buy-line for SugarPuffs – and I practically grew up on them so what a great opener! The lyrics are haunting – it feels ancient and organic – and I love Charlie and his primeval cymbals!

Let’s Stay Together
I’ve always loved Al Green but also thought his song definitely had the necessary ‘swagger’ for swing!

Nature Boy
One of the most complete yet mysterious songs I know. It’s like your head doesn’t know what it means but your heart does. I love the notion of Eden Ahbez, one of California’s first hippies, roaming the Hollywood Hills (literally in the arches of the Hollywood sign) in the thirties/forties. He was anachronistic for that time and – maybe as a result - the song’s utterly timeless.

A Night in Tunisia
If you love it you’ll know that this is heavily influenced by the arrangement Ella Fitzgerald made famous. We – especially Charlie – wanted to get really North African with this and conjure up those twoireg campfires!

Alfie
I’m so in love with this song – I daren’t sing it. But I’m really grateful for the chance to really let go on the piano; I’m so moved by the music as it goes by that I forget to worry about what I’m playing!

Midnight Sun
Another Ella Fitzgerald tour de force! Any song lyric brave enough to include “Aurora Borealis” is worthy of attention and these guys were really having a laugh when they combined that with such a chromatic melody! It’s well-crafted song-writing at its best and quite a challenge!

When I Fall in Love
Like so many Nat King Cole songs, this seems to have some kind of ancient truth; it feels like a lesson!

Isn’t It Romantic
This is pure fun, and youth, and silliness!

Moonlight in Vermont
I’ve always loved the way a bossanova rhythm can utterly influence the mood of a song and wondered whether it was possible to take a rhythm from a very warm place and combine it with lyrics about a very cold place; Vermont in the winter-time!

Waltz for Debby
My first jazz piano lesson was more of a one sentence instruction; something like this…. “Go and listen to Bill Evans for a while and then come back and see me.” I’m still listening! I love the way piano can do what one voice can’t – create immediate harmonies and countermelodies. And no-one could do that better than Bill Evans. But piano can’t use language; so, I had the wonderful idea of coming up with some lyrics for this great tune – and it’s innocence cried out for me to use my daughter as a theme! Fantastic! Only would you believe it - lyricist Gene Lees got there first – and I swear he wrote exactly what I would have!

Yesterday
I wanted to include a song by – in my opinion – one of the finest craftsmen of modern music; Paul McCartney.

Miss Otis Regrets
What an enigmatic title and a lyric which reads like a novel! It’s a bit like Paul McCartney’s “Scrambled Eggs” story, but apparently Cole Porter only wrote this song because someone challenged him to write a song based on the next thing he heard. He just happened to be in a restaurant and just happened to hear a waiter say “Miss Otis regrets ….” As with “Scrambled Eggs” I almost hope it’s not true – how can such beauty come from such crude origins?!

Don’t Know Why
Loved this song the moment I heard Nora Jones’ version on the radio. I’ve been going through a phase of trying all new songs in different time signatures and this one just seemed to work so well in three/four time. If you’re not burdened with a background of music theory, this version of Don’t Know Why may just feel a bit like it moves along differently to Nora’s. Hope you like it!

Credits:-
Vocals & Piano:- JOANNA EDEN
Double Bass: JULIE WALKINGTON
Drums and Percussion: CHARLIE PRICE

Recorded at: The Hat Factory, Luton; Engineered by Dave Worcester; Mixed & Mastered by Steve Stewart; Photography: Front Cover by Evi Antoniou; All other photography by Robin Thurston. Graphic Design by …(33 to decide that!)

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