



>Home >Biography >Accordion Crimes - latest CD >Accordion Crimes - reviews >Finally a Beginning - debut CD >Finally a Beginning - reviews >Gig Guide >Gallery >Discography >Compositions >Wind Café >Links >Contact			John Fordham Jazz UK Jan/Feb 2002 Accordionist Karen Street has provided all kinds of impressionistic undercurrents to a variety of British bands in recent years - groups as different as Tim Garland's folk-jazz band Lammas and the vigorous American/UK post bop band he toured with last year, or world-music singer Martha Lewis' ensemble - but this is her debut with her own song. Street's playing leaves most of the instrument's traditional luggage behind while retaining it's evocative textures and faintly dolorous charm, and she's a fine improviser who clearly has her head and her fingers around the mechanics of jazz as well. Street is assisted here by a shrewdly-chosen pairing of Stan Sulzman's appropriately lyrical soprano saxophone and flute and the electric bass of Fred Thelonius Baker, the UK's own Steve Swallow. A promising solo career...finally beginning. Kenny Mathieson The List Nov 2001 This is the self-produced debut album from accordionist Karen Street (not to be confused with the more folk-oriented accordionist, Karen Tweed), and a fine one it is. Street is best known in jazz circles for her work with Mike Westbrook and Tim Garland. She is a highly resourceful player, but does not go in for shows of flashy virtuosity, preferring to concentrate on shaping and expressing her music. The compositions are all her own, and most of them are performed solo, although saxophonist Stan Sulzman and guitarist-bassist Fred Thelonious Baker help out on selected items. Dave Gelly Observer 11 Nov 2001 Karen Street and the jazz world met each other for the first time about 10 years ago, when composer Mike Westbrook decided to add accordion to his Big Band. Street was already well established in other fields, so the experience didn't suddenly turn her into a jazz musician, but her playing proved so jazz friendly that she's kept up the connection. This is her first album. It includes bass guitarist Fred T. Baker and Stan Sulzman on several tracks, playing a set of original pieces that touch on jazz, folk and even tango in a unique and very attractive style. Chris Parker The Tablet Nov 2001 Karen Street, an accordionist who cut her jazz teeth with Mike Westbrook's orchestra and, more recently, with Tim Garland's jazz/folk outfit Lammas, could be said to fit into the sort of niche occupied in Britain by the various denizens of the Babel label. Her debut CD, "Finally ... a Beginning" (ATKS 0101 ), demonstrates not only Street's entirely successful adoption of an idiom initially foreign to her, but also a highly accomplished compositional gift. Judiciously interspersing solo pieces with duos involving either Fred T. Baker (on bass and acoustic guitars) or Stan Sulzmann (on soprano saxophone and flute), Street proves herself to be a thoughtful but vigorous soloist, intelligently exploiting all the considerable textural possibilities of her instrument with great aplomb. Her interaction with both Baker and Sulzmann is as lively as it is subtle, but it is her solo work that really impresses; her tribute to the bandoneon master, Astor Piazzolla, I Dance for You, for instance, is imbued with all the passion and elegance that characterize the work of its late dedicatee. Andrew Vine Yorkshire Post Feb 2002 Followers of the contemporary British Jazz scene might well have caught Karen Street playing in bands led by Mike Westbrook and Tim Garland. She plays accordion, and this debut CD is a thoughtful affair of quiet beauty in which her solo pieces often carry flavours of folk music. There's an intimate plaintive quality. Guitarist Fred T Baker and saxophonist Stan Sulzman take a bow on duets with Street. It's an appealing album. Gail Brand - The Musician March 2002 Writing, recording and producing a CD is up there with moving house in terms of hard work and commitment. Karen Street's hard work and commitment has produced a debut solo accordion work which seems to come straight from the heart. This feels like a personal journey for this accomplished and well-respected musician (work ranging from Mike Westbrook to Phil Robson Octet and sax player in Saxtet). As the title of the CD and eponymous first track suggests - this work has been a long time coming and this is reflected in the intensity and intelligent improvisational language of her music. Stan Sulzman (flute & soprano sax) join Karen on five out of the ten tracks and their musical dialogue is engaging and artful. The compositions range from hints at sunny nostalgia in Water Garden and Child's Play to a dark riskier dynamic In the Ballroom with the Rope - deftly bringing Cluedo and accordion playing together at last! The energy and passion is strong and the musical skill is of a very high order on all tracks which makes this a very listenable work. Accordion World Jan/Feb 2002 To record a CD entirely of your own compositions is quite an intrepid thing for any musician to do, unless you already have the fame of an Elton John or a Lennon & McCartney. Karen Street, on her debut recording, has resisted the temptation for the 'play safe' option of recording pieces that are well known, and has recorded ten of her own compositions. These self compositions, however, reflect the artist's long association with the accordion world, with jazz musicians and with what is termed 'world music' and the music radiates her brilliance both as an accordionist and as a composer for the instrument. Karen indulges herself with some very modernistic, free wheeling music in which her considerable musical talent explores new frontiers. The occasional addition of some very tasteful guitar, saxophone and flute adds to the texture of the compositions and provides relief to the otherwise solo accordion playing. Karen Street's debut CD is an adventurous and imaginative exploration of the artist's inner self. Superb playing. Favorite tracks? The compelling, insistent rhythms of Horseshoe Bay and Full Circle made these pieces especially enjoyable. John Walters Guardian 9 Nov 2001 Karen Street is a composer and accordionist whose debut album is a fine showcase for her versatile talents, shown at their best on dramatic solo pieces such as the title track and In The Ballroom With The Rope. A couple of duets with Fred Thelonious Baker on acoustic guitar veer towards smooth jazz. Child's Play, with Stan Sulzman, is reminiscent of sweet 1960's soundtrack jazz - possibly more fun to play than to listen to - but the closing Full Circle has an added toughness from overdubbed accordions and Baker's more familiar electric bass. Anyone who has been impressed with Street's work with the Westbrook’s and Tim Garland will want to investigate.