Abandoned Garden

Abandoned Garden
Studio album by Michael Franks
Released 1995
Genre Smooth jazz
Vocal jazz
Length 57:02
Language English
Label Warner Bros. Records
Producer Matt Pierson
Gil Goldstein
Michael Franks chronology
Dragonfly Summer
(1993)		 Abandoned Garden
(1995)		 The Best of Michael Franks: A Backward Glance
(1998)

Abandoned Garden is a smooth vocal jazz album by American singer-songwriter and musician Michael Franks. Released in 1995 with Warner Bros. Records, it was Franks' thirteenth studio album, and his final album of new material with Warner Bros. [1]

Background

The album is a dedication to the memory of Brazilian jazz musician, singer and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. Franks had drawn artistic inspiration throughout his career from Jobim, and had collaborated with him in the past.[2]

"Somehow Our Love Survives" marked the return of keyboardist and lyricist Joe Sample, with whom Franks had collaborated with on numerous albums previously, including Sleeping Gypsy in 1977 and Blue Pacific in 1990.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "This Must Be Paradise"  Michael Franks 6:10
2. "Like Water, Like Wind"  Franks 5:19
3. "A Fool's Errand"  Franks 4:35
4. "Hourglass"  Franks 4:45
5. "Cinema"  Franks, Antônio Carlos Jobim 4:52
6. "Eighteen Aprils"  Franks 4:35
7. "Somehow Our Love Survives"  Franks, Joe Sample 5:00
8. "Without Your Love"  Franks 5:22
9. "In The Yellow House"  Franks 5:21
10. "Bird Of Paradise"  Djavan, Franks, Max Frederico, Flávia Virgínia 5:39
11. "Abandoned Garden"  Franks 5:24

Personnel

Musicians

Support

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Down Beat[4]

Reaction to Abandoned Garden was mixed.

Writing for AllMusic, Ross Boissoneau praised the input of "heavy hitters", but lamented it was "neither Franks' best effort nor particularly evocative of the great Brazilian composer" the album was dedicated to. He concluded "while the revolving door of stars has served Franks well on other recordings, here they don't seem to add up to much."[3]

The jazz/blues Down Beat magazine rated the album "good" in their March 1996 issue, reporting it to be "a genuine keeper, a guilty pleasure. Somehow Franks, a song stylist more than a jazz vocalist, once again gets his way, singing his indelible melodies that before you know it are under your skin, into your veins and etched into your soul..."[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Discography in Order of Release". MichaelFranks.com. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
  2. ↑ O'Toole, Kit (2008-03-26). "Michael Franks's Abandoned Garden An Eloquent Tribute to Jobim". Blogcritics Music. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  3. 1 2 Boissoneau, Ross. Abandoned Garden – Michael Franks at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  4. 1 2 "Michael Franks – Abandoned Garden CD". CDUniverse. Retrieved 2012-03-11.

Bibliography


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