Joanna Chapman-Smith
"Contraries"
Woundup Records (2008)
A splendid outing for for a stupendous local songwriter and performer. Anyone lucky enough to be at the Ukrainian Hall last Friday for the CD release knows that Contraries really is a journey is multiple styles. One could call it folk, but that would be an unjust pigeonholing. It touches on folk from so many angels. Mixing elements of reggae, jazz, klezmer, and clever songwriting into a vaudevillian dream sequence. Floating effortlessly between styles and genres one can see the world traveler in Ms. Chapman-Smith. The eclecticism ($5 word of the day) of the album is reflected in the album cover which shows Joanna's trio of geographic influences; being the CN tower of her home turf of Toronto, the yellow house that is her home on her new home turf (for the last 6 years) of Vancouver and the small kiwi roadsign refecting her love of New Zealand.
Contraries has something for everyone. The laid back grooves of "Urbanity", the suttle intensity of "Between the Minds" and "Into the Quiet", and the carnivalesque dance numbers like "Arbitraty Lines" and "Klezbian Mother" are part of a glorious mosaic of musical flavor. Grab this album or tell your local record store to bring it in. Or better yet, check her out in concert and grab an album from her in person. Joanna Chapman-Smith is the real deal.
http://www.joannacs.com
