The Wailin’ Jennys – BRIGHT MORNING STARS

Folk and Roots: The Online Guide to the Folk, Roots, and Acoustic Scene in the U.K.

By David KidmanThe brand name of this celebrated Canadian female trio has always been synonymous with stylish and tasty folk-roots music; it has, however, always seemed mildly fated, in that founder members Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta have twice now had to embrace a lineup change (original third member Cara Luft having been replaced in 2004 by Annabelle Chvostek, who on her departure in 2007 was succeeded by Heather Masse). The Jennys’ albums have tended to prove in the first instance quite slow-burn but in the long term distinct stayers, and this new release, number four in the sequence if you count their EP debut, is no exception. It’s a long five years since their award-winning Firecracker album, but the Jennys’ fiercely democratic modus-operandi is retained in the equal-handedness with which the songwriting credits are meted out on their latest, with each of the ladies being allotted four titles. The thirteenth item (the disc’s title song) is a spine-tinglingly poised and glacially beautiful adaptation of the time-honoured Southern Baptist hymn, sung acappella of course, on which each individual strand is both pure and clear and clearly audible in relation to its place within the group texture with close observance of both kinds of dynamic. The brilliantly incisive recording so faithfully captures the individual and combined vocal nuances and relationships, and it goes without saying that this facet will always be considered the Jennys’ principal selling-point: fine singers with gorgeous voices who naturally blend and cohere and harmonise. And yet there’s so much more to this trio, for each of them is an extremely able and highly persuasive songwriter (and more than competent musician too as it happens, although they’ve also engaged a handful of other players for the album sessions including Paul Mathew, Colin Cripps, Kevin Breit, Bill Dillon and Ruth’s brother Richard). The Jennys’ writing shows them to be well versed in sub-genre and crossover stylings, from the light-textured ukulele-accompanied back-porch folk of Away But Never Gone to the understated delicacy of All The Stars, the 40s/50s gentle-swing ambience of Cherry Blossom Love to the gospel-soul mood of Storm Comin’ (both embracing Heather’s jazz-singer training). Less is invariably more, even in the songs that incorporate marginally fuller musical settings, for the degree of restraint both in terms of delivery and arrangement is a major factor in the communicative success of the Jennys’ music. Heather’s Across The Sea, which enchants the ear from its opening acappella clarion-call and gains warmth with guitar and then flugel-horn, is a case in point in that regard, and the tender Asleep At Last comes very close to that standout song. But the whole album contains plenty else that constitutes serious magic too.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

VintageGuitar.comBy Steven StoneThe concept of "folk supergroup" sounds strange, sort of like "the folksinger's Porsche."  But no musical amalgamation deserves this moniker more than The Wailin' Jennys.  With three world-class lead vocalists who are equally accomplished songwriters, The Wailin' Jennys deliver polished folk music that still has soul.Bright Morning Stars highlights Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Heather Masse's strong songwriting chops as well as their impeccable pipes.  Each contributed four original songs, and Mehta's anthemic "Swing Low Sail High" leads off, setting a high standard with a delicate ascending melody that soars above the textured backing vocals.  Moody's "All The Stars" has a more intimate feel and a melody that lends itself to harmonic embellishments, which the Jennys add with impeccably good taste.  Masse's "Bird Song" was the title track from her latest solo album.  For the Jennys' version, she changed the key, added more acoustic instruments, additional parts, and doubled lead vocals.  In the Jennys' arrangement, she also appended a "round" to the end of the song.Returning to their Canadian roots, the band used mostly Canadian session players including multi-instrumentalist Colin Cripps, Ruth Moody's brother, Richard (viola), and Jeremy Penner (fiddle).If you love the sound of three beautiful folk voices blending in perfect harmony, music that is sweet without being cloying, and voluptuous acoustic arrangements, Bright Morning Stars will start your day right.

Separated at Birth?

Songlines - UKBy Doug DeLoachThey're not sisters, but The Wailin' Jennys sound like they must have grown up singing under the same roof together. For the past decade or so, Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody, and Heather Masse (who replaced Annabelle Chvostek in 2007) have carved out a niche as purveyors of a certain style of North American alt-roots music that evokes a contemplative solitude and breezy attitude. It might be described as 'Canadiana.'The 13 songs on Bright Morning Stars (only one of which, the title-track, is not an original composition) are engaging from a melodic standpoint thanks to a relative absence of clichés and easy resolutions. While winsome ballads about lovelorn lasses and sea shanties sung to wave-kissed sailors aren't exactly mining unexplored veins, the sincerity in the Jennys' three-part harmonies, the capable instrumentalism and refined intelligence illuminate the beauty that a good poet might resolve from the everyday landscape of life. Ethereal, delicate, dreamy and haunting are the words that spring to mind. That said, jazzy numbers like 'Cherry Blossom Love' evoke a very different type of contemplative mood: the kind you'd experience in a smoky lounge with a whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other.Bright Morning Stars has been painstakingly engineered by Mark Howard and David Travers-Smith to rend every last angel's whisper out of the trio. Younger fans of Alison Krauss and Rosie Stevens will get it, while their elders will reminisce about Jean Ritchie, the Armstrong Family (sisters Jenny and Rebecca) and other female heralds of yore.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Rambles.netBy Jerome ClarkThe Wailin' Jennys, three young women from Winnipeg (two) and New York City (one), are among the most sought-out acts on the current folk circuit. Sometimes the popularity of particular acts is a mystery to me, but in this case the grand talents of Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse are there to be enjoyed if you have good taste and functioning ears. They hail from various musical backgrounds -- folk, of course, but also jazz and classical, the latter of which is presumably responsible for their chamber-music approach. One can hear echoes of this sound in a few British folk bands, but the Jennys are still distinctive in their richly conceived arrangements.Each Jenny is a superior vocalist, and together their harmonies approach the heavenly. To my hearing, they are never better than when they tackle traditional material, which on Bright Morning Stars is the title song, a gorgeous 19th-century hymn previously recorded by Ralph Stanley and Emmylou Harris, among others. When I say the Jennys' is the equal of any of those, praise can be no more elevated.The rest of the songs are all the individual work of Moody, Mehta and Masse -- if they ever contemplate a name change, may I suggest 3M? -- and again, gift and craft are on full display. My only complaint is my problem, not theirs; it's just that I like folk music a lot more than I like pop music. That doesn't mean, I suppose I must add, that I don't recognize good pop when I hear it. But the sort of acoustic-guitar pop Joni Mitchell invented and briefly practiced in the latter 1960s has languished near the bottom of my personal listening charts for a long time now, and that's a lot of what the Jennys do. On the other hand (is this the third or fourth one now?), the Jennys do it as well as anybody currently fashioning it. If you like it, you will like the Jennys's way of doing it, and you'll want to seek out the two solo CDs Moody and Masse put out in the past year or so. I couldn't bring myself to review either for reasons just stated.Some of the originals, however, owe something to inspiration in traditional music. They are almost invariably excellent. Here one spectacular example is Masse's "Bird Song." I could pour on the usual array of celebratory adjectives, but I'll restrain myself. Just listen to it, and you'll know.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

fRootsHighly talented trio back with a top producer who has smoothed and polished their music to positive effect.  All but the title track are originals superbly performed and crafted.

The Wailin' Jennys: Bright Morning Stars

www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk - UKBy Malcolm CarterWalking in to my local record store, which is sadly no longer there of course, during the closing chilly months of 2006 I was mesmerized by the sweet sounds coming from the shop’s sound system. On asking I was told that the album playing was the latest from a Canadian trio named the Wailin’ Jennys. I walked out of the shop that day clutching my copy of what turned out to be the trio’s second full-length album, ‘Firecracker’, and for the next few days their harmonies filled every room in the house. The music the all-female trio made was acoustic folk-roots rich on melodies and with harmonies that were simply breathtaking.Since ‘Firecracker’ the band released a live album, ‘Live At Mauch Chunk Opera House’, and Annabelle Chvostek left, her replacement being Heather Masse. While Heather has more of a jazz and blues background than Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta, the two founding members of the Wailin’ Jennys, it’s really business as usual when comparing the trio’s albums.So while The Wailin’ Jennys have not broken any new ground with this latest collection of twelve original songs and their arrangement of one traditional (the title song), ‘Bright Morning Stars’ is another immaculately played, produced and most importantly sung album in the band's catalogue. There is little to choose between the three members who all contribute songs. You wouldn’t want to guess who wrote each of the songs; even though they write separately they’re all on the same page when composing it seems. But this just makes for a more cohesive album and by having three strong songwriters in one band it’s unlikely that the quality will ever drop on any Wailin’ Jennys album.The Wailin’ Jennys are not alone in writing songs that sound like they could have been written at any point in the last 60 or 70 years. These songs really do, however, have a timeless quality to them which will obviously still make them favourites in the years to come and with the acclaim that Alison Krauss is finally receiving is hardly going to help further the career of this talented trio.One of the Ruth Moody songs on this album, namely ‘Asleep At Last’, is a perfect example of just what makes these girls so special and is probably all that is needed to convert someone who has never heard the band before. With just added acoustic and National guitars from Kevin Brett joining Ruth’s acoustic guitar what could be a sparse -sounding track is filled out with such breathtaking harmonies they almost make you forget just how superb Ruth’s lead vocals are on this song. If any Alison Krauss fan heard this song, they’d surely rush out and buy ‘Bright Morning Star’.Highlighting Ruth’s performance on that song is a little unfair as all three singers have an equal talent. Heather Masse turns in what is arguably her best vocal on the album on ‘Cherry Blossom Love’ where the band’s contribution of electric guitar and percussion add further texture to the sound we’ve come to expect from The Wailin’ Jennys.Just now though the lead vocals of Nicky Mehta, which open and close the album with ‘Swing Low Sail High’ and ‘Last Goodbye’, which are two of the strongest songs on a collection that has no weak points, are still stopping heartbeats. That Nicky has an exceptional voice is stating the obvious to anyone who has heard her sing but when Heather and Ruth join in the results are simply stunning.The Wailin’ Jennys do anything but wail…they sing like angels and have the original songs to showcase those voices perfectly. ‘Bright Morning Star’ is an album that will be played and played. 

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Buddy Magazine - TexasBy Tom GeddieBright Morning Stars by The Wailin’ Jennys is sure to be one of the best CDs of the year for people who let the songs get into them rather than using those songs as background noise. It’s poetic folk stuff with some joy, some sadness and regret, and some wondering or wandering in what often seems like an olden or timeless time.The harmonies by Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Heather Masse shine as they alternately share lead vocals on their own, sometimes fragile songs, and support one another; there’s just enough musical support to carry the songs.Parts of the slow, brooding “Storm Comin’” – “when that storm comes, don’t run for cover” and “when that rain falls, let it wash away . . . the tears and the trouble” – are gospel-sounding a cappella. The simple, repetitive title song – a traditional, and the only one none of the women wrote – about day breaking in the soul is, indeed, a cappella.The yearning and beautiful “Bird Song” – “I see the flowers blooming, opening for spring / I’d like to be those flowers, open to everything” – is tastefully accompanied by acoustic bass, drums, electric guitar, and fiddle.Producers Mark Howard (who’s worked with Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams) and David Travers-Smith mix bits of acoustic guitar, accordion, banjo, and ukulele into the 13 songs.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

Penguin EggsBy Monica MillerHuman ears seem to be genetically pre-programmed to connect instantly and deeply with the sound of vocal harmonies. Part-songs and madrigals, barbershop to doo-wop, from The Everlys and The Drifters to CSNY and Fleet Foxes—we just can’t get enough. It may well be the vocal version of the mother’s heartbeat.Which brings me to Bright Morning Stars, the third full-length studio recording from Winnipeg’s The Wailing Jennys. To not be smitten you would have to be among the most curmudgeonly of listeners. If you want to rock the house, choose something else, but for the right time, place and mood you won’t find anything more lovely.Long favourites among Canadian folk and roots music lovers, The Jennys have achieved the difficult goal of breaking into the U.S. market. An early boost from Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion didn’t hurt, but they’ve continued to work hard and develop their fan base the old-fashioned way, on the road, one audience at a time.Add to that, original Jennys Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta have had to find a replacement Jenny twice since the original EP release in 2003—a pitfall that has sunk many a musical ship. With Heather Masse now well-settled in the alto chair, and Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris) in the producer’s chair, the new release feels akin to being rocked gently in the arms of someone who loves you unconditionally. Allow yourself the pleasure of relaxing in the warmth of The Wailin Jennys’ new offering.