Eden offers a glimpse of paradise

JAZZ Joanna Eden Quartet Live! On the Park, SW1
Jack Masserik

Can nice girls rise to the top? Consider RAF bandsman’s daughter Joanna Eden, the very English artist on duty here last night. Confident and charming, she plays good piano, writes sharp-witted, well-crafted songs and sings them sweetly and with conviction.

Moreover you won’t find her staggering out of some West End casino at 4.30am. This lady has a family to run, including her husband and drummer Charlie and their musical daughter.

Candid originals from her new 33-Jazz album, Moving Shadows, covered topics ranging from old flames (Have you met my Beautiful New Wife?) to her mother (Can’t Get Anything Past Her), her husband (Smoke and Drink? Not until I Met You) and depression (Get Thee Behind Me). Solid caberet fare, you might think, but her delivery of jazz themes (Midnight Sun, Nature Boy) were equally strong.

Her solos blended well with Julie Walkington’s fine walking bass and the bluesy elequence of guitarist Jim Mullen, a guest star guaranteed to raise the creative bar.

“Jim’s not on the new album because we felt his playing needed a little more work”’ quipped Ms eden as Jim contritely slapped his wrist. “Actually,” she added, “we couldn’t afford him.”

Last year Joanna shared a charity event with overnight superstar Jamie Cullum. With some steely image adjustment her turn may come, too. It couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

Mojo
"My Open Eye" - Singer-songwriter-pianist with melody, mystery and bite

Eden once haunted smart jazz joints mixing freshly arranged standards and offbeat originals, as captured on her 2000 debut A Little Bird told Me. Now, My Open Eye is a surprising collection of self-penned, post-motherhood songs, revealing her haunting music as perhaps closer in spirit to Beverley Craven than Betty Carter. The opener, Singing Out, sets the tone; a plaintive piano arpeggio, a voice as clean as dry sherry and the verse (“There goes my true love / He’s walking on water / There goes his new love / She could be his daughter”) pulling the rug immediately, beauty and broken glass all at once. I Cry mourns the Iraq episode with heartbreaking modesty, and deserved to be Number 2 at Christmas. Elsewhere there’s love and guilt, joy and restlessness, naivety and wisdom co-existing in Eden’s alluring oeuvre. For those whose favourite part of a Martini is the olive. Chris Ingham

JAZZWISE, SEPTEMBER 2000, Keith Shadwick wrote:- A Little Bird Told Me  (Black Box)  3 stars out of 5

Eden is a Londoner with a good voice and the technique to be able to deliver it to its audience in fine style.  She is also a pianist (she accompanies herself here, along with bass and drums) and a talented tunesmith, contributing five of the 23 songs here.  She is a jazz singer, able to interpret lyrics and phrase in unusual and interesting ways to reveal new meaning in songs.  All in all, then, this has got to be good news, considering the usual sad stuff passed off as good contemporary jazz singing.  The record is a small group affair with a variety of guests from track to track, including trumpeter Alan Leggett, guitarists Francesco Cavalier and Dan Boutwood and saxophonist Luke Annersley.  Some of the solos from these people are less than inspired but on the whole there are good things on display most of the time.  Which is more than most debuts offer, so we can look forward to the next one.

While sniffing out new vocalists check out “A Little Bird Told Me” (Black Box) by pianist-singer Joanna Eden; a martini-cool voice with something of the kooky wisdom of Rickie Lee Jones and a song-writing style to match.  Both Eden and Jane Monheit are similar in tone.

It’s not as if the British Jazz Scene is knee-deep in original female talent so it’s always good to add another name to the list …. expect to hear more of this lady”