Eleanor Dubinsky, "Touch The Sky"

If you studied in Prague, Czech Republic, and you sing in English, French and Spanish, and you 
play cello, guitar and percussion, you must be an "Artista Internationalista".

....and if you have a CD titled "Touch The Sky" you would have to be, Eleanor Dubinsky!

Eleanor Dubinsky

The CD is truly diverse and international. Eleanor
delivers a wonderful collage of tunes, all original!

The opening tune "Jeu De Deux" does exactly what cut #1 is suppose to do, it makes you want more. It leads you in with Eleanor's sultry, elegant voice in French and English, and a haunting melodic line....and some solid percussion to add a bottom.


"Missouri Sky" is a marvelous tune. Guess you could call it a Blues/Folk number, that's not important to me, this is a great tune. Eleanor's smooth ultra feminine rendition of this simple but poignant lyric, surrounded by a great piano riff give this song high marks from me.

The purity of  Eleanor's voice along with her range, make her sound and this work unique.
This is never more evident then on "Two People". A song of love (an acoustic work) and the trials and tribulations of a love affair. Eleanor uses her vocal range to add elegance to this beautiful melody.
A wonderful out of love, love song.

The lyrics and the array of melodies all written by Eleanor on this CD are remarkable. Passion, a love of music and her talent wrap you up, and hold you, and take you on a tour of one woman's music.

                                                                       ******

CD "Touch The Sky"

I asked Eleanor the questions I ask everyone; If you were leaving Earth and could only take one album with you, which would you take?

.....I would take "Balance" by Sara Tavares
Sara Tavares is a Portuguese singer and songwriter who writes in her own fusion of African/Fado/soul.  Her roots are Cape Verdean but she grew up in Portugal, and she has a beautiful way of capturing a happy, uplifting feel with meaningful lyrics and African rhythms. Her music makes me want to dance and also to listen to what she has to say.
I'd take Balance to the far off planet because the music helps me find my inspiration as an artist, calms me down when I feel sad or nervous and and lifts my spirits.  It would be a good hand holder while getting used to the aliens :)  Sara's songs remind me of what I really care about - international mixing, soulful expression and personal voice.  I also know that Sara has suffered and triumphed in her life - was somewhat abandoned by her parents when she was young, then rose to the top of Portugal's music scene when she was a teenager by winning several songwriting competitions.  You can feel the overcoming of suffering in the honesty of her lyrics and she encourages me to be honest in what I say, and play.

Sara Tavares; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPq9eil64k

The other question I ask everyone is, If you could perform with anyone, who would it be?

...If I could work with anyone who would I work with...
Herbie Hancock.  He's a musical pioneer who continually takes risks and expands his musical horizons.  He brings younger and upcoming artists into the mix and I imagine that he mentors them to some extent.  His path has been so varied, through jazz, pop, soul and classical, and I would love to experience first-hand how he follows the inspiration of an idea from beginning to end.  I love his last record The Imagine Project and I SO want to do something like that with him!  Each song has a groove that support a melodic vocal and instrumental changes, and the singers are so sweet - Ceu, John Legend, James Morrison, Oumou Sangare and more.  I recognize in Herbie's work something of myself, meaning that my music also challenges genre boundaries and embraces multiple cultures.  I aim to keep expanding what I do and to challenge myself for as long as I make art, and live.  In my own music, I am working on developing grooves and I enjoy setting the general structure of a song while, like in jazz, leaving space to improvise and create a dialogue between the performance of the song, the vibe of the venue and the audience.   From this blog to Herbie's ears!
Herbie Hancock; http://youtu.be/-2QBmBYvVfE

Undoubtedly you will be hearing more here from Eleanor Dubinsky, a live review is a must for me on my next trip to NYC.

Get a copy of "Touch The Sky" here  http://www.eleanordubinsky.com/

Eleanor Dubinsky will be at;  Rockwood Music Hall, NYC,  July 10th
                                                  Aroma Cafe, NYC,  July 21st
                                                  NUBLU, NYC,  July 22d

by Pete Cataldo follow Pete; www.twitter.com/petecarma