Purified singer-songwriter.

MaHarry’s career came to a standstill after the dissolution of her contract, but she recorded twenty new songs, of which eleven live with band.

On stage and in the studio she proves to be matured: in the songs based on piano the accompaniment serves her vocals more than on her two CDs from the nineties. Baroque excess caused fragmented melodies sometimes then, but these are absent here, except in Dyan Is Resting, fitted with Ian Anderson’s characteristic flute.

The result is a rich collection of ballads and medio-tempo songs, in which MaHarry’s singing gains intensity by the space that she leaves and by the slight fray that her sometimes metallical voice has now.

Sparingly playing musicians support her feelings effectively, among whom experienced session players such as drummer Jim Christie, bass player Kevin McCormick and guitarist Mark Goldenberg. Thus regular producer Dwight Marcus shows MaHarry’s melancholic songs to their full advantage.

Mostly, it is November in her lyrics about love and life and it rains, but they form a both emotional and balanced account of an empty heart. This way, MaHarry proves to be artistically unbroken.

The concert recorded on 1 November 2001 is even more intense because of its stylistic unity. The people present were rightly impressed by it and rewarded Maharry, whose anniversary it was, with an initially hesitantly sung Happy Birthday to You. Now only the rest of the wereld has to follow.

****1/2

Published in Dutch roots music magazine Heaven 2 maart-april 2003