Leah-Carla Gordone: Press

On this genre-blurring folk & soul CD, Leah-Carla celebrates songs of encouragement, heartbreak, hope, self-determination and friendship. Her impassioned, resonate and deep voice convey a street-wise, yet spiritual awareness of the human condition. The CD opens with an a cappella lullaby of a mother to her child. The haunting solo of the opening song "Naked" moves into a energetic & soulful high. And she closes the CD with a memorizing sonic treat on personal empowerment in "Believe". Her versatile voice ranges from the grit and bite of Janis Joplin to the sultry side of Norah Jones throughout. Leah-Carla's songs move from rejoicing in new love in "What It Feels", to the bittersweet issues of "Why" and to the joyous celebration title track "Rise". Leah-Carla's professional acoustic guitar work can be heard throughout the CD & especially on "I Am your Friend" and "Sweet By and By". Infectious hooks, a growling & unique voice, compelling chords, she creates an eclectic & satisfying mix of genres. Leah-Carla carves out her own new style in her latest effort on "Rise".

Leah-Carla Gordone, Phoenix from the Ashes: Rise

Leah-Carla Gordone's folk-rock is an oasis of sincerity in a desert of irony and boastfulness. The best of her work grabs you by the gut, and this disc contains some of her best, most moving melodies to date. These melodies, together with her tension-wracked vocals, turn her best songs into whizzing worlds of twelve-string soulfulness - "Naked," "What It Feels Like," and "I Am Your Friend" are good examples."

Leah-Carla Gordone is somewhat of an enigma. Take a look at her album cover; before you even hear her, you just know somehow she’s going to be different. And while different isn’t always good, in this instance the listener is lucky. Gordone brings a unique mix of rock, folk, and soul on her 3rd release, Phoenix from the Ashes: Rise.

“A Mother’s Lullaby” introduces the album, an endearing a cappella song written from a mother to her daughter. Then the real fun begins on “Naked," a funky song where we hear the versatility of Gordone’s voice. Just moments ago we heard a soft, sultry voice. Now it’s erupted into almost a snarly growl. This woman’s got a voice, and she’s not afraid to use it. The song also features a spoken word piece.

On “I Am Your Friend," Gordone proves she’s not all bite though.

I will listen to your cares
I will soothe your worried mind
I will rock you in my soul
I will warm you when you’re cold ...

The tender side of Gordone continues to prevail on “Sweet By-and-By," a song dealing with the pain of loss and moving on. The closing track, “Believe in Me," is an inspiring number about living to one’s potential. It features the talents of rapper Too Juicy and seems to sum up the theme behind Gordone’s vision for the album.

Something inside needs to break free
smash the illusion and turn the key
some bird of wisdom is begging to soar
to rise from the ashes to be something more ...

In the liner notes, Gordone explains the significance of the phoenix (motivation for the album’s title). According to Gordone, the phoenix is a mythical bird who transforms itself into something greater. With innovative, exciting music like this, I can’t wait to hear the next transformation.

Gordone's Dragon

There is a new star on the horizon. Her name is Leah-Carla Gordone. She has opened for such stars as Norah Jones and The Indigo Girls. She is the daughter of Pulitzer prize winning playwright Charles Gordone. Leah-Carla has recorded an album that is sure to be a chart topper. The title of this album is Dancing On The Dragon.

Gordone has been compared to Patti Smith, Melissa Etheridge and a more street wise version of Natalie Merchant. She has certain members of the press saying that her music evokes thoughts of Carole King or Joan Osborne.

On the album Mike Unger plays the electric guitar. Yiling Tien is on violin, Joshua Huber is on bass and piano and Ivan T. Houpe is the drummer. Molly Pauken does the percussion and Pete Linzell is on saxophone. Kay Harris gives Leah-Carla some help by providing backing vocals. These musicians and vocalists are pretty well known in the Columbus , Ohio area
where the album was recorded. Leah-Carla played both the 6 string and 12 string guitars on the album along with lead and background vocals.

The first track, Beauty, begins with some funky guitar and sax. Then Leah-Carla leads the listener down a path of head bouncing, in your face vocals. The song will have you moving around.

Things slow down with the second song, This Moment. She pours out her heart in this mild and beautiful song. You will probably draw a reference to Melissa Etheridge when hearing this song.

Get It Back brings yet another layer to Leah-Carla's music. The music has a fit of Spanish influence, or possibly some Alan Parsons. The song has some really tough violin in it.

Let It Flow is another good song on the album. The lyrics move smoothly and there is some tough wah wah styled guitar music in the middle.

Let Yourself Fall begins as a slow and easy ballad. Then Leah-Carla moves into a more moderate pop / rock pace.

One song that really got my attention is Crystal Clear Infinity. The music in the song is fantastic, with steady paced guitar and drum. What sells the song is the subtle yet pervasive violin that is in the background. The violin is brought forward at times to complement Leah-Carla's vocals. There are some wonderfully haunting background vocals as well. I'm not sure if this song is getting much airplay, but it should be.

The Dragon is a tough rock ballad. A solid pace and strong vocals, supported by great guitar should make this song another radio favorite.

With Dancing On The Dragon, Leah-Carla Gordone is certain to become a major star. The songs she writes are great, the vocals fantastic and the music is top-notch.

There are clips from the album on Leah-Carla's web site. The site can be found at www.leahcarlagordone.com

Friday, July 14, 2006
Leah-Carla Gordone

E' da meno di un quarto d'ora nel lettore, si chiama Dancing on the Dragon di Leah Carla Gordone e già non possiamo farne a meno. Beauty apre il disco in un modo che meglio non si potrebbe. Questa canzone si attacca alla testa, ai vestiti e diventa un tatuaggio mentale, un hit perfetto. Grande ! Ma dove sono nascosti personaggi di questo calibro? Una voce personalissima, insieme forte e ruvida, dalle interessanti inflessioni soul, una voce da rocker nata, vissuta e stravissuta a pane e Janis Joplin. E poi quell' arrangiamento funkeggiante ricamato su di un jazzy-killer-sax, a ciondolare sinuoso tra le parole. Tutto il resto non è certo da meno, Great Mystery, Let It Flow, Crystal Clear Infinity, Get It Back, The Dragon...Una dopo l'altra, persino una meglio dell'altra. Leah-Carla è con pieno merito dentro la migliore tradizione dei songwriters d'America - ascoltare, prego, la superba interpretazione di Rise (inedita, un vero crimine, e solo sul suo sito on line)...Lei scrive le proprie canzoni, le suona sulla 12 corde e possiede mille sfumatura nella voce. Questa donna arriva da Columbus, Ohio, ma è nata e cresciuta a New York e ha già all'attivo un album intitolato Butterfly Child che - francamente - non vediamo l'ora di ascoltare. Per il momento questa piccola meraviglia riempie già un pò delle nostre prossime serate.
Leah-Carla Gordone - Dancing on the Dragon - 2005 Fat Dragon
Leah-Carla Gordone - Butterfly Child - 1998 Metamorphosis Records
www.leahcarlagordone.com
ENGLISH VERSION
It is into the player only from less than a quarter of an hour, the title is Dancing on the Dragon and it is already indispensable to us. Beauty opens in the better way you can to imagine. This song turns in the mind, adheres to skin, to dress, is a mental tattoo, a perfect hit. Great ! I wonder where artists of this quality are hidden..A truly personal voice, strong and rough at the same time, with an interesting soul-mood, a real rocker, grown up with Janis Joplin, I think. And then that arrangement, so funky, embroidered over a jazzy-killer-sax, lounging, dangling, sinuous, among the words. The rest is not less: Great Mystery ( very special ), Let it Flow, Crystal Clear Infinity, Get it Back, The Dragon...one after the other, even one better of the other. Leah-Carla is with authentic full merit in the best tradition of American songwriters - listen, please, to the superb interpretation of Rise (unpublished, a crime, and available only at the her website). She writes her songs, she plays a 12 string guitar, she has thousands shadings into her voice. This woman comes from Columbus, Ohio, but she's been born and lived in New York and has made a previous work entitled Butterfly Child who we wait to listen soon. This wonder will fill up enough our next evenings.

posted by Sergio Manghina @ 9:26 AM 0 comments

Thursday, July 13, 2006

"Featured Artist - September 2006
Leah-Carla Gordone"

Leah-Carla Gordone
Ten20 Club (Bel Age Hotel) 2/14/06
West Hollywood
Contact: Luck Media & Marketing, 310-860-9170.
Web:www.leahcarlagordone.com

The Players: Leah-Carla Gordone, vocals, acoustic guitar.

Material: Leah-Carla Gordone’s fragile and gut wrenching material paints a picture of a vulnerable, sensitive young girl who is continuously evolving. Her songs bring in symbolism such as the Phoenix to illustrate her thoughts and emotions, while experiencing love’s loss, recovery, and sense of renewal. “The Road” is probably Gordone’s best song, suitable for radio play. It perfectly showcases her sultry, powerful voice and meaningful lyrics.

Musicianship: Gordone’s deep, passionate voice draws the audience in as she belts out sensitive lyrics with a touch of warmth and shyness. She plays nice backup, accompanying herself on a black [12-string] acoustic guitar scattered with pink butterflies.

Performance: Talent and growth potential came through in Leah-Carla Gordone’s soulful stage presence –– one that was sensual, yet innocent. Her contagious smile and natural beauty caught the audience off guard as they began to realize that this was not a tough rocker girl, as her appearance suggested, but rather an excellent young singer with the sensitivity of Norah Jones and the intensity of Alanis Morissette.

Summary: Leah-Carla Gordone’s multi-colored hair, tattoos, 70’s platform shoes, pink top, and black artist-cap threw the audience for a loop. You had to wonder who this artist really is. While the butterflies on her guitar and jeans hint at the sweet, sensitive girl she appears to be in song, her tough, punky biker chick appearance gave a different impression. To the audience’s pleasant surprise, a modern day Carly Simon burst forth, with a touch of Joni Mitchell thrown in for good measure.

Indie Round-Up:
Leah-Carla Gordone, "Dancing On The Dragon"
Leah-Carla Gordone has matured appreciably since her last album, "Butterfly Child". Stylistically, her r&b-flavored folk-rock puts one in mind of Melissa Etheridge (minus the off-key singing) crossed with Gwen Stefani (minus the pandering to the male libido). But Gordone holds forth in a husky baritone like Nina Simone's, backed up with her own acoustic and twelve-string guitars and some highly funky support musicians, notably Mike Unger on electric guitar, violinist Yiling Tien, and a crack rhythm section.
No longer dependent on peace-and-love homilies, Gordone's lyrics mingle hopeful idealism ("Can we get it back to how it used to be/When everything was pure and free") with relationship realpolitik: "When you open up and let someone in/It's like peeling back a layer of your skin/And it hurts at first but then you grow to like it/That is when the tragedy begins." Melodies flow, harmonies soar, and choruses glitter. Gordone remains an earnest, serious and consciously inspirational singer-songwriter, but the style and art of her songs, and her production of them, now make a fine match with her lyrical themes, with hooks that are organic to the songs and also strong in pop sensibility: "This Moment," "Get It Back," and "The Dragon" are especially good examples of Gordone's ability to come up with tunes both meaningful and catchy.

"The Road" charted for two months on commercial Top 40 radio (#17, between Eminem and Madonna)

Leah-Carla Gordone – Dancing on the Dragon

Wow. Sometimes you catch yourself judging a book by its cover and this is definitely one of those times. While the cover is sprawled with Chinese symbols, a tough looking chick with blue streaks in her hair, an ample bosom, and many tattoos most of us (myself included) would assume we are going to be treated to some sort of alternative rock goddess, this is definitely not the case. Gordone is sort of a multi-genre singer/songwriter as it turns out. While there are some danceable beats to be found on songs like “Beauty” and “Crystal Clear Infinity” most of the album’s heart beats with the fire of a folkie. Gordone’s voice is powerful yet distinctly feminine. She is not afraid to really unleash her voice and I like that a lot about this album. The acoustic base of the album makes it a cohesive sounding one yet there is just enough variety (both with instruments and stylistically) to keep your attention without wholeheartedly kicking you into left field. Highlights include the uptempo acoustic rocker “Rain Down” and the beautifully soulful “Let Yourself Fall” which is led by piano and strings, yet progressively morphs into a variety of styles. Really the whole album is wonderful. Gordone exhibits all the qualities of a world changer – don’t be surprised if you hear her name synonymous with Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls some day!

CHT Pick: "Rain Down"

"A new artist with a new twist to Top 40 ... it's a must to listen to"

Leah-Carla Gordone – Dancing On the Dragon - EDITOR'S PICK
With her dashing good looks, and plentiful, um, assets, Leah-Carla could easily be cast aside as an A&R’s wet dream instead of a true artist. Well that would be a shame. Her sultry vocals moan melancholy and drip wet with tantalizing lyrics that are both intimate and bashfully impressive. This newcomer from the New York City scene has not just a great voice but also the ability to strum a 12-string guitar like nobody’s business. The fact that “Dancing on the Dragon” is all swirled up with smooth jazzy movements and daring adult contemporary just makes it that much more essential.

CRITICS HAIL GORDONE'S FIRST CD "BUTTERFLY CHILD"

"Leah-Carla Gordone . . . is a powerful, authentic singer who lives her music by voicing her convictions through her passionate, poetic songs . . . She leads the cutting edge of the new millennium for those who appreciate music as substance rather than style and hope for it to 'light the way'." Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary)

"[Gordone is] a fascinating new voice . . . a quality to her singing shared by the greatest women singers, like Piaf, Joni Mitchell, Billie Holiday -- a sense of emotional intimacy and confiding . . . [she is] a rose creeping from fissures in graffiti-stained concrete." - George Chevalier, Woodstock Times

"Leah-Carla Gordone [is a] powerful vocalist . . . sometimes reminiscent of other strong female singers, including Patti Smith, Melissa Etheridge and Grace Slick, but [with] her own, highly identifiable sound. The songs are all original". - Phillip H. Farber, Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman, Preview

"Gordone's music resembles the pop-folk-soul vein of such women as Joan Osborne and Carole King". - Andrew S. Hughes, South Bend Tribune

"Comparison to other artists is always easy but Leah-Carla Gordone is distinctively her own. Others will be compared to her". - Dano Morris, DJ, Radio Free Brattleboro (VT)

"From her very first song, 'Let it Flow', N.Y.C.- born Leah-Carla Gordone shows you what she's all about right up front: Passion...Gordone mesmerizes the audience...A raw presence... She is the whole package." - Stacy E. Lukasavitz, www.femmusic.com

"Imagine naked poetry - exposed emotions, then lightly and carefully clothed in music. Leah-Carla embroiders her soul into her shadowy acoustic music and reveals songs that are musically touching and vocally emotive. Her unique voice and heartfelt guitar and piano playing can be found on her CD 'Butterfly Child'." - (Boston) NeMO Music Showcase and Conference Showcasing Artist Review

"Leah-Carla Gordone makes me think of Grace Slick, Melissa Etheridge, and Alanis Morissette - to name but a few. She has a powerful voice of her own and is very strong lyrically." -- Culture & Camp magazine (The Netherlands)

"Gordone makes me think of a tougher, hipper, more street-wise Natalie Merchant. But Gordone is no copy cat. . . . What I find most amazing about Leah-Carla Gordone is that listening to her makes me feel stronger and more hopeful. What a gift!" - Jeff Hepfer, "Burn Yer Radio" www.wakeupweb.com, Featured Artist

"The thing I admire about Butterfly Child/Leah-Carla more than anything is her ability to give range to the songs. . . if it dictates the voice should be strong and outgoing ('Love This Land'), it will be. It could be raunchy and enunciating ('New Disease'). It could be crooning, whispering, secretive ('Washington Square'). This is the kind of singing I most appreciate. She does what she wants, because she can do it all." - Ben Ohmart, www.musesmuse.com

"Gordone runs from edgy to sweet on this CD. The strong subject matter of the songs matches the emotional delivery. Powerful...both to the ear and the mind, this CD tackles some issues, and Gordone's voice makes you take notice of what she's saying." - Karen E. Reynolds, "Writer's Block," WDVX-FM Clinton TN

"Leah-Carla is a writer of reflective and empowering songs of contemporary life. She sings with emotion and focus." - Richard Fox, DJ, "Crosstracks," WCUW-FM Worcester MA.

"The music is earthy, urban chanteuse folk with jazz and rock influence, and I recommend it" - Taylor Caffery, DJ, "The General Store", WRKF-FM Baton Rouge LA.

"Gordone's CD "Butterfly Child" grabs you from the very beginning of its opening track (Rain Down) and carries you through its entire length. Leah-Carla's husky, yet smooth vocals and picture painting lyrics will guarantee that this CD will find its way into anyone's CD collection." - Aaron Childs, DJ, "The Audio Realm," WCSR-FM, Hillsdale MI

"Leah-Carla Gordone is an incredible performer with raw energy on stage and originality in her performance style and her music." - George Lamboy, Time-Warner cable's "New York's Greatest"