Track Listing

1. If Dreams Come True
2. The Very Thought Of
3. Melodie Au Crepuscule
4. Getting Some Fun Out Of Life
5. If You Don't I Know Who Will
6. Ces Petites Choses
7. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
8. If Your Kisses Can't Hold The Man You
9. It's Like Reaching For The Moon
10. Si Tu Savais
11. The Way You Look Tonight

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141387 in Music
• Released on: 2007-05-15
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Cajun patois has long figured heavily in the music of Ann Savoy--with her husband Marc, the Savoy-Doucet Band, the Magnolia Sisters, and Linda Ronstadt--but this jazzier effort puts a different sort of French twist on her artistry. The result is continental gypsy swing in the tradition of the Hot Club, with the sprightly interplay of guitarist Tom Mitchell and violinist Kevin Wimmer recalling Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. The is mood music for a variety of moods: saucy on "If You Don't I Know Who Will," dramatically bittersweet on "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," jaunty on the uptempo finale, "The Way You Look Tonight." Among the French material she interprets, listeners will recognize "Ces Petites Choses" as "These Foolish Things." Savoy compensates with the warmth of her conversational phrasing for whatever her voice lacks in range and power. --Don McLeese

Customer Reviews

A Squirt Gun to the Face of the Third Grade Teacher
I remember one of Roger Ebert's most memorable reviews, that of the original "Naked Gun." He said something like this: "Criticism of this movie is pointless. It's like critiquing a third grader who hits his teacher in the face with a water pistol."

Indeed. There are a few discs out there: I'm thinking of Leon Redbone's "On the Tracks" (the one with the cartoon dancing frog with the top hat); The Dirty Dozen Brass Band's "The New Orleans Album"; and Rebecca Kilgore's "I Saw Stars"--to name but three. Music which makes you smile, makes you laugh, makes you dance. Grab the nearest person or inanimate object and dance around the room-type dance.

Add this one to that list.

Ann Savoy, joined principally by Kevin Wimmer on the fiddle and Tom Mitchell on acoustic guitar, covers standards in English and French (Including "These Foolish Things," done as "Ces Petites Choses") and create some manic merriment. There are some movie producers out there who should listen to this disc!

If the disc were anything but this, I'd give it four stars. The three musicians are not always in balance. In particular, Ms. Savoy's voice often gets overwhelmed by the others, and sometimes cuts out.

But any music which gets my mojo working gets 5 stars. That's the deal. RC

A "niche" album worth the listen
Turn the house lights down low. Focus the spots through the fog of Gitanes smoke. Welcome to a fantasy league gathering of the "Hot Club" ensemble from six decades past. Edith Piaf, Stephan Grappelli, and Django Rhinehardt live again in the persons of Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights, a band featuring Tom Mitchell on guitar and Kevin Wimmer on violin. The core trio is fleshed out with a polished rhythm section, including two of Savoy's sons.

Ann Savoy brings solid credentials to this new project. She's previously stepped into the breach by recording an album of duets with Linda Ronstadt (against whom Ann held her own very convincingly), and she's paid her zydeco dues (as vocalist and guitarist) in numerous outings with her husband Marc Savoy (accordion) and Beausoleil fiddler Michael Doucet. She's approached French-inspired American music from an academic perspective as well, contributing to seminal publications about the music and its practitioners.

Here, she's digging deeper into her cultural context: all the way back to French cabaret. The opener, the Benny Goodman tune "If Dreams Come True," is likely the finest tune on the CD and the definitive statement of the band's intent: a cool little gypsy swing with deft and easy interplay between the three able musicians. The soporific Rogers and Hart piece "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" showcases Ann Savoy's vocals against the beautifully turned accompaniment of Wilson Savoy's piano.

It's likely that a college degree in French has never been put to better use on either side of the Atlantic than Ann Savoy in her performances on this album. Her nearly vibratoless alto and dead-on intonation make for some ethereal listening. But be forewarned that this atmospheric collection is narrowly focused and geared low. Savoy has one pitch here and it's a slow curve.

Note: Copyright 2007 Elmore magazine and reprinted with permission.