What the press says:
Review of concert at STAGE CLUB, Hamburg 24. 06. 2007
Hamburger Morning Post 26. 06. 07
Jane O' Brien and her Band
Moving Irish Jazz-pop with a lot of emotion
CHRISTOPH FORSTHOFF
Sometimes it is simply good to experience a concert where someone stands on the stage purely for the love of music. Not because they are attracted by a quick buck, or some girlie thinks that three chords and a seductive smile is enough for a music career, no, simply an evening where the music comes from the soul and touches the audience deeply and gets right under the skin, just like tonight with Jane O'Brien in the Stage Club.
O'Brien, a singer/songwriter from Ireland who has lived in Hamburg for nearly two decades, has gone through a variety of singing and band formations and has now obviously found her own music in a line-up with piano, bass and drums. Certainly thanks to the really good and sensitive musicians, Andreas Guenther, Karsten Koertling and Doerte Schueler, especially Guenther, the man on the grand piano, who time and again surprises with original licks and runs which he nonchalantly throws in.
Jane O'Brien describes her music as 'cool Irish pop-jazz with a lot of emotion'. And certainly the songs offer a lot more than a couple of pretty melodies decorated with jazz elements. For one thing her little stories take unexpected turns musically and stylistically again and again, ballads with folk, rock sounds with trip hop leanings. And then there's O'Brien's clear intense voice, which takes the listener along with it from the very first note. Sometimes even in a small setting love produces really big music.
English translation of CD review:
The North Berliner 25. 10. 07
'Jane O'Brien' CD Irish jazz pop with emotion
Jane O'Brien describes her music as 'Irish jazz pop with a lot of emotion' - this also applies to her current album, which carries her name. Comparisons with Björk, Tori Amos and Sinead O'Connor spring to mind - although the Dubliner, who has lived in Hamburg since the beginning of the nineties and before that in Barcelona, has developed her own individual style. Her warm and resonating voice creates just the right atmosphere to enjoy while sitting back and relaxing in a leather armchair at the end of a hard day, with soft lighting and a Daiquiri. This is lounge music, which doesn't flow in one ear and out the other, on the contrary, these are songs enriched with elements of folk, jazz and pop which bring their own form of listening and relaxation.
You can listen to all of the tracks at
www. cdbaby. com/janeobrien
and it can be purchased at almost all download and hard copy web shops and in regular record shops.
For more information and downloads go to
www. janeobrien. com
www. myspace. com/janeobrien
www. youtube. com/obrienjane