Posts Tagged CD Review

Storytelling: The Oldest Art

Chris Reidel Storyteller Cover of CD Storytelling: The Oldest Art
Tales from around the world told by Cris Riedel
Website: http://www.storiesconnect.com
$15.00 includes shipping & handling. To order email: cris@storiesconnect.com

Reviewed By Linda Goodman

This delightful CD, recorded live at Debbie’s Café in Wayland, New York, features familiar multi-cultural tales given new life by the strong voice and enthusiastic telling of an intuitive teller who grabs the essence of each tale and makes it sing. Cris Riedel clearly treasures these stories. From England’s Lazy Jack, the folktale predecessor of Forrest Gump, to Europe’s Clever Manka, who outsmarts the men in her life at every turn, the listener in engaged and eagerly anticipates the next chapter. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Woman Who Sold Winds & Other Tales of the Sea

Ralph Chatham The Woman Who Sold Winds & Other Tales of the Sea by Ralph Chatham
Available from Curmudgeon Story & Whistle Works
703-698-5456 email: Ralph.Chatham@verizon.net
$10.00 + postage
http://voicesintheglen.org/storytellers/ralph-chatham/

Reviewed By Linda Goodman

I was particularly excited to listen to Ralph Chatham’s CD The Woman Who Sold Winds & Other Tales of the Sea, not only because it boasts a story that Ralph’s telling presented to perfection at March’s VASA Gathering, but because it was not recorded using the usual professional route. The stories on this CD were recorded with Apple’s Garage Band and imported into iTunes, all standard software with Macintosh computers these days.

The CD begins with an introduction detailing how “compost heaps and pounding in tomato stakes”
directly led to the narrator’s love affair with the sea. That love is clearly evident as one listens to Thar She Blows, a whale hunting adventure sprinkled with Read the rest of this entry »

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Second Hand Rose

Second Hand Rose Storytelling CD Compact Disc Review by Linda Goodman
Available from Ellouise Schoettler

Email: ellouise9112@ellouisestory.com. 301-951-1213 $15.00
Recommended for teens and adults.

Reviewed By Linda Goodman

This CD, recorded live at Strathmore Hall Arts Center in Rockville, Maryland in April, 2007, embraces an environmental theme: reduce, reuse, and recycle. All the stories on this CD extol these virtues.

The Thrifty Tailor is an ancient folktale about a man whose love for his beautiful coat prevents him from discarding it when it gets worn out. Creatively thinking outside the box allows him to preserve the fabric he Read the rest of this entry »

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Deirdre of the Sorrows

Diane Edgecomb Deirdre of the Sorrows, by Diane Edgecomb with Margot Chamberlain, compact disc available from Diane Edgecomb, P.O. Box 16, Jamaica Plain, MA, 02130 (617) 522-4335. Email: dedge@livingmyth.com. .00, plus .50 S&H. Suggested age range: 12 years through adult

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

To see Diane Edgecomb perform Deirdre of the Sorrows, accompanied by Margot Chamberlain on the Celtic harp, is to watch poetry in motion. Hearing this haunting story on this exquisite recording conjures up images of both beauty and horror, leaving the listener breathless. Do not plan on listening to this recording and then going back to business as usual. It may take a while to recover composure.

Edgecomb and Chamberlain first met to work on Deirdre in 1989.
The hauntingly beautiful musical arrangements by composer Tom Megan and Edgecomb’s extensive research into the life and world of the pre-Christian Celts have produced an unforgettable adaptation of this ancient tale. It begins at the Feast Samhain at Emain Macha, where Deirdre is born suddenly while her mother is serving the harsh and demanding High King at his banquet. A druid predicts the child will have a Read the rest of this entry »

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Penny for Your Thoughts

Diane Ferlatte CD Penny for your Thoughts Written and performed by Diane Ferlatte, with Erik Pearson. Order by emailing diane@dianeferlatte.com or visit www.dianeferlatte.com

Reviewed by Linda Goodman

Diane Ferlatte has a rich, silky voice that is full of soul and heart. I could listen to her recite multiplication tables
for hours and never feel board. Imagine how pleasant it is to hear her telling stories.

I first heard Diane at the Three Apples Storytelling Festival in Harvard, Massachusetts. I was spellbound by her gentle wisdom, coupled with spurts of energy that had me springing upright in my seat. I have heard her many times since, and she never fails to delight her audience.

Three of the stories on this CD are ones I have not heard before, including Next Town, in which Ferlatte shares a tale about a family
road trip from California to Louisiana in the midst of a steaming, hot summer in her childhood. Her wise mother prepares food for the trip, but it disappears much sooner than expected. In the segregated south, when many restaurants refused service to black people, Ferlatte learned that people can hate others without even knowing them. Read the rest of this entry »

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