Covers of Costello/Bachrach songs in Philippines charts

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 4:28 pm

http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/features/st ... ory=454978

Siobhan tastes a little Asian success

BELFAST-based jazz singer and festival artist Siobhan
Pettit is a major celebrity these days - in the
Philippines!

The Clonmel-born chanteuse is delighted that her new
album Long Ago Tomorrow, has soared to Number Five in
the South East Asian country's album chart.

Siobhan fell in love with jazz by accident, having
been more accustomed to Irish folk music when she was
growing up.

"I come from a big family and all of my sisters either
sing or play an instrument.

"We used to sing together a lot and we were always
encouraged even though neither of my parents would
claim to be musical."

Although she is now based in Belfast, Siobhan has
lived in many places and her wandering spirit has
often presented her with wonderful opportunities.

"When I was young and going through my restless years,
I wanted to wander the world.

"I didn't have any ties so I went to New York and
stayed with a friend.

"Then I got a part-time job which financed some
singing lessons with Mike Mitchell of Carnegie Hall,
which was a wonderful experience."

It was only when she was asked to join a jazz group
that Siobhan started to develop an interest in the
musical genre.

"Once I started learning the songs, I realised that
they were quite familiar to me because they would have
been played as pop songs on the radio in their day -
that's how I got into jazz."

Long Ago Tomorrow, her fourth album, is a collection
of Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Elvis Costello songs
which have been given fresh arrangements and produced
by husband, Rod Patterson.

The Philippines aside, the CD has been receiving rave
reviews at home and Siobhan admits that it's a bit
different from her other work.

"I needed a departure from what I was doing, which
was, primarily jazz standards and I've always been a
big fan of Burt Bacharach's music - most people would
know at least a couple of his songs - so I just
fancied the idea of taking some of the obvious
compositions and putting a different spin on them.

"I also knew that there were a few that people
wouldn't have heard of, so I threw some of them in as
well."

For her next album she plans to write some material
herself.

"Up to now, I've concentrated mostly on the jazz
standards although I have written some songs.

"For the next album though, I'm going to start writing
for sure."

Siobhan Pettit will perform at the Guinness Spot, QUB,
on October 28. her new album Long Ago Tomorrow is out
now. For more onfo log on to
http://www.siobhanpettit.com/flash.htm
-------------------------------------------------------

see also
http://www.elife.ph/entertainment/music/music.php

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 5:00 pm

What a slow site she's got....

for those who can't be arsed with such button pushing, the tracks are:

What the world needs now is love
A house is not a home
One less bell to answer
The look of love
(They long to be) Close to you
This house is empty now
This guy's in love with you
Painted from memory
I say a little prayer
Walk on by
Make it easy on yourself
Long ago tomorrow
Wives and lovers
I'll never fall in love again
The thong song

(ok the last one isn't on there

)

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:33 pm

Here's the order page.
http://www.siobhanpettit.com/sales.html

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 12:34 pm

If anyone buys this, I want reports! I love these songs, but I want know it's better than, say, "The Sweetest Punch" before I drop my all-too-rare shekkels.

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 2:32 pm

aw, bobster, i LIKE "The Sweetest Punch". well, it's worth the $8 i paid for it at the used cd shop. i could do w/o Cassandra Wilson on there, but getting EC singing another version of Toledo is nice, and it generally makes decent background noise.

i've purchased worse stuff.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 1:52 am

I Saw Ms Pettit in concert in Dublin last Saturday ,
Oct25. Great voice , tight , well rehearsed band (
piano, drums , bass/double bass and
trombone/flugelhorn) , a good humoured performance for
a tiny turnout (c.60) in the small Mother Redcaps
venue. Only minus point was the PA - it was too loud
and wasn`t really needed in the first place. Talking
to Ms Pettit afterwards she was excited about future
plans to travel to Asia etc. She also mentioned how
Elvis Costello had been given a copy of the CD a few
weeks ago and had responded with delight at the news
that some of his work with Burt had been recorded by
others. I told her that I thought her version of
Painted From Memory was better than the Cassandra
Wilson version on Bill Frisell`s Sweetest Punch album
; she wasn`t aware of that recording but thanked me
for the compliment , commenting on how difficult a
song it is to `get right`.

Examining the album sleeve I found , in my
own sad way , another Costello connection. In the
production credits for the recording in a Dublin
studio I found a listing for engineering by one Kieran
Lynch ; the same name pops up in a similar capacity
for When I Was Cruel.