JEAN SYNODINOS: Lucky

Jean Synodinos

Lucky

© 2003 Jean Synodinos (750532927329)

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Eleven tracks of groove, grit and grace. Think Dusty Springfield meets Joan Armatrading. Jean's big-league voice and award-winning songwriting are backed up by stellar production and performances from some of Austin's best players.

tracks

1 Running With Me
2 Gospel According to John
3 I Want to Know You
4 Ode to Billy Joe
5 Time Takes Time
6 Lucky
7 Angel Wings
8 Big Wahoo
9 Dog Inside Your Car (The Co-Dependent Song)
10 Sure Thing
11 Lullaby

notes

A fearless and exuberant performing songwriter, Jean Synodinos has a voice that's been hailed as a veritable force of nature. Dynamic and powerful, it's capable of changing from an insinuating whisper to a full-throated belt. Critics have called it "big-league," "blues smoky and rich," and "show-stopping."

Her debut solo studio CD, "Lucky," offers eleven tracks of groove, grit and grace, illustrating why Jean's been called, "... this sexy, soulful mix of Dusty Springfield and Joan Armatrading." "Lucky" features drop-dead performances by some of Austin, TX's finest players, including Earl Poole Ball (Johnny Cash), Chris Searles (The Flatlanders, Shawn Colvin), Charles Rieser (The Scabs, Ugly Americans), Glenn Kawamoto (Tish Hinojosa), The Grooveline Horns, Ephraim Owens... and more.

Jean's list of awards attests to her artistry as a songwriter. A winner of the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition and the KRCL Founder's Day Festival Songwriting Competition, Jean's songs juxtapose elements of pop, folk, blues and jazz to tell her stories of surviving--and thriving. Her solo guitar work is formidable, and Jean consistently wows audiences with her particular mix of humor and heartache, delivered with unapologetic commitment.


HERE'S HOW TO SAY JEAN'S LAST NAME:

sin-uh-DEE-nus. It's easy!

*** Read all the reviews on Jean's website at www.jeansynodinos.com ***

*** Be Jean's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/jeansynodinos ***

*** Your voice is important. Don't forget to vote in every election. ***

reviews

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  • author: Minor 7th Webzine

    Austin-based singer-songwriter Jean Synodinos belts out the kind of bluesy vocal delivery that is paradoxically both bawdy and coy. There's just a hint-of-Texas mystery to her vibe that you can't quite define... is it down-home or come-hither? Synodinos' résumé of numerous songwriting awards attests to the spunk with which she's attacked her late-in-life career change, relying on the same personal tenacity which saw her successfully through the terror of a breast cancer diagnosis in 2002. The title to this CD, "Lucky", sums up the irony of Synodinos' leap of faith towards the fine music she was destined to make, made all the more possible by the liberating aftermath of a second chance. She's wisely surrounded herself on this CD with superb sidemen, including guitarists Charles Rieser and David Hamburger, and just the right mix of horns to perfectly complement her acoustic musical vision. The musical moods are primarily jazz and blues inflected, but run the gamut from footloose ("Running with Me"), intimate and intense ("I Want to Know You"), steamy (a cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe") to humorously self-deprecating ("Big Wahoo"). Whoever is touched by a listen to Synodinos' music is sure to feel the luck.

  • Great production... soulfully contagious
    author: South of Mainstream

    The album is wonderfully produced. The instrumentation is well constructed and Synodinos' voice is soulfully contagious. Her voice has wonderful qualities, including the smoothness found in R&B, the swing and sassiness found in jazz, a gentle country twang, and great projection of powerful emotions alluding to the blues. Jean Synodinos' lyrics are intelligent and thought provoking... This album is a great accomplishment.

  • BOY, am I LUCKY!
    author: Chris Darling, WMPG-FM, Portland, ME

    Wow! The vocals are amazing, and so's the content, instrumentation and arrangements. A very tasty offering, and for that, BOY am I Lucky!

  • Her voice is a marvel.
    author: John Conquest, Third Coast Music

    Synodinos is amazing. She has some excellent moves as a songwriter and is an accomplished acoustic guitarist, but ber big gun, and I mean .50 caliber made by badass Hellenes, is the marvel that is her voice.

  • Feel the luck.
    author: Minor 7th Ezine

    Jean Synodinos belts out the kind of bluesy vocal delivery that is paradoxically both bawdy and coy. There's just a hint-of-Texas mystery to her vibe that you can't quite define... is it down-home or come-hither? Whoever is touched by a listen to Synodinos' music is sure to feel the luck.

  • Dynamic and gorgeous vocals
    author: J-sin, Smother.net

    Jean's first accolades have to be about her dynamic and gorgeous vocals. Then and only then can you begin to discuss the rest of the album's polished portions like her guitar playing or the studio production. This isn't just a critic's wet dream, this is substance that everyone can get a handle on.

  • Jean is a woman to be reckoned with.
    author: Genevieve Will, indiemusic.com

    Few can genre-skate well, but perhaps that's because few have a voice as amazingly versatile as Jean Synodinos. Fresh but down-home dirty. Pure but worldly. Bottomless but downy-light. With that cannon in her pocket, Synodinos could sing any piece passable as music and cast it into greatness. Beyond doubt, Jean Synodinos is a woman to be reckoned with.

  • Humor, grit and grace
    author: Kerry Dexter, Dirty Linen

    A writer of humor, grit and grace, Jean has a smoky mezzo well-suited to her elliptical storytelling lyrics.

  • author: Margaret Moser, The Austin Chronicle

    As fine a vocalist as she is a composer, Synodinos' Lucky is among the most overlooked albums of recent memory.

  • I am LOVING Lucky!
    author: Karen Vandergrift

    This is one CD that I could actually wear out. Jean's got an awesome, powerful voice--unique and gutsy and the track mix contains one great tune after another.

  • Your CD player will thank you!
    author: Georgetown House Concerts

    Each and every song is a MUST hear! From the full throated "Running with Me" to (in my humble opinion)Jean's better-than-the-original rendition of "Ode to Billy Joe", this CD is an amazing presentation of her vocal skills. Jean then brings it down to a sweet close with "Lullaby", guaranteed to make you sleep a little easier. Buy two, one to keep selfishly for yourself and the other to give to someone you love.

  • author: Bruce Novotny

    This is a great collection of songs from a gifted songwriter and powerful performer. When Jean Synodinos is on her game, her music takes on a life of its own, and Lucky is full of music with that kind of life. Personal and universal at the same time, seductive and joyful, it's a great piece of work. The bluesy flavor enhances Jean's writing and her singing and -- ah, to hell with analysis -- I just love this album. Plain and simple.

  • Music, arrangement, voice...WE are Lucky!
    author: Albert Reinoso

    This is a fantastic collection of moving songs full of heart and humor. Some great hooks here and VERY well produced. Look out for a killer funky version of Ode To Billy Joe! Bravo Jean!

  • Can you say incredible??????
    author: Annie Skamangas, The Baklava Goddess

    I have all of the CDs that Jean has produced and this one tops them all - definitely her best work yet! Sassy, smart, she oozes style! I had the pleasure of seeing her live to perform most of these songs and she is fabulous in person as well as recorded. You will be buying copies for your friends!

  • This CD captures the magic of Jean's live performance.
    author: Laura Williams

    My husband and I were "lucky" to stumble upon Jean when she opened for Ray Wiley Hubbard in Ft. Worth, Texas last year. It was a simple acoustic set -- just Jean and her guitar. Her performance was nothing less than magical. We waited in anticipation for this CD and were not at all disappointed. The arrangements are thoughtful and not distracting to Jean's lyrics or her vocals. I have pretty much worn out this CD.

  • Jean Synodinos sings like an angel.
    author: Bonnie Thompson

    This is a GREAT album. Singer-songwriter Jean Synodinos has pulled it all together: sultry vocals, intelligent lyrics, and a big, soulful backup band. This CD not only has substance--it definitely has STYLE.

  • One of the best CDs of 2003
    author: Susanne Millsaps, Host, KRCL's Thursday Breakfast Jam, Salt Lake

    One of the best CDs of 2003. Intelligent, thoughtful, literate lyrics, a world-wise sensibility and a big big sound -- "Lucky" is the whole package. And oh, that voice! Highly recommended."

  • really, really - good stuff
    author: Bill Martin

    Jean Synodinos' studio debut Lucky deserves to have new descriptive words invented just for it. Just to set it off from the rest. It's that good. Dynamic, insightful music and lyrics covering a broad spectrum of emotions and experience; all delivered with candor, conviction and wit. Jean's voice is exceptionally beautiful and deeply satisfying. She is backed by musicians whose talent is undeniably major league, and the production quality of the album is off-the-hook outstanding. Pick it up, stop what you're doing and just listen.

  • "Lucky" will be on everyone's "Desert Island List!"
    author: John Blinn

    What a marvellous variety of styles: Running With Me is a terrific hit 'em between the eyes combo of arrangement and lyrics! I Want to Know You hits my Sondheim button so deliciously; a perfect 10! Jean's version of Ode to Billy Joe is THE definitive version. Simply stunning! Time Takes Time, Dog Inside Your Car (what an arrangement!!!), Sure Thing and Lullaby (is there no limit to the styles this woman can sing well?!) are wonderful in every way. A few other thoughts: the miking and recording are superb, the production is over the top and Chris Searles has not only the technique and the musicality waaaay too many drummers lack but some of the best sounding equipment I've heard; he's in the Jim Keltner league! Oh and Jean's phrasing and that muted trumpet, the cello and Glenn holding it all together; where do I stop? All in all, over the top. "Lucky" IMMEDIATELY joins my "albums I'd take to a desert island list".

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