This spellbinding artist pursues a new direction with her 2000 release, delivering eloquent, stripped-down interpretations of traditional American spirituals, plus traditional songs from Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere. Using vocal layering accompanied by minimalist keyboard and percussion, she creates vibrant, introspective renditions of such standards as Jacob's Ladder and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Applying her angelic vocal work to these timeless classics, she manages to embellish the songs vocally without sacrificing their integrity.

For other meanings of this term see the Hush disambiguation page.

Hush is a 2000 album by Jane Siberry.

The album is a collection of traditional folk and gospel songs.

Musicians

* Jane Siberry: vocals, piano, accordion, harmonica, harp, keyboards

* Sandy Baron: violin

* Jennifer Weeks: oboe on 'The Water Is Wide'

Category:2000 albums

Category:Jane Siberry albums

This text has been derived from Hush (Jane Siberry album) on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0

Artist/Band Information

Jane Siberry ( ) (born October 12, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels". She has also released material under the name Issa ( ).

Her music has drawn from a wide variety of styles, ranging from new wave rock on her earlier albums to a reflective pop style influenced by jazz, folk, gospel, classical and liturgical music in her later work.

In May 2010 she made her entire back catalogue of music available as free downloads in MP3 and AIFF formats.Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing: http

Career history

Siberry was studying music and microbiology at the University of Guelph when she released her debut album, Jane Siberry, in 1981 (see 1981 in music). The album was relatively successful for an independent release, but the follow-up, No Borders Here, was critically acclaimed and included the underground hit "Mimi on the Beach".

The Speckless Sky (1985, see 1985 in music) was a commercial and critical success, and Siberry moved to a major label in time for The Walking (1988, see 1988 in music), which was a critical success but popular failure. The Walking was released on Reprise Records internationally, but remained on Duke Street Records in Canada. Reprise would become her Canadian record label as well with her next album, Bound By the Beauty, in 1989.

In 1993 (see 1993 in music), Siberry worked with Michael Brook and Brian Eno on When I Was a Boy. That album's most famous song, the k.d. lang duet "Calling All Angels", first appeared in Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World, and was later re-recorded for the Pay It Forward soundtrack. The album was noted particularly for its introduction of the more spiritually-oriented themes that have become a hallmark of her later work.Scott Gray, . Ascent.

Following the release of Maria (1995, see 1995 in music), Siberry founded her own independent label, Sheeba Records. She has released all of her subsequent material on that label. Her public profile has been lower since she became an independent artist; however, she retains a devoted cult following. All of her independent albums have presented material organized around a particular theme, such as Christmas music, songs about communication, or traditional spiritual music.

Inspired by the dichotomy between frequent e-mails from devoted international fans asking her to play a concert in their city and her difficulty in finding a suitable concert promoter, Siberry launched a "microtour" through her fan mailing list in 2010,. The Globe and Mail. in which she offered to play small venues — ranging from intimate cafés to fans' own homes — in any location in Europe where one or more fans could organize a space, an audience of about 20 to 30 people and a night of accommodation.

Issa

Early in 2006, Siberry closed her Sheeba office, then auctioned (via eBay) and sold nearly all of her possessions—including her home and instruments. She presently retains one travelling guitar, but none of the other instruments featured on her albums and in her concerts. In 2006, she told The Globe and Mail that she had kept a very few precious possessions, including her Miles Davis CDs, in storage.

On June 3, 2006, somewhere in northwestern Europe, Siberry changed her name to Issa. She revealed her new name to the public on June 24, 2006. She indicated, however, that her older music would remain available for sale under the name Jane Siberry; only her new material would be released as Issa. She indicated to The Globe and Mail that she chose the name Issa as a feminine variant of Isaiah.

On July 4, 2006, she gave a lecture at University of British Columbia in Vancouver on the topic of "Cracking the Egg: A Look from the Inside". She began with a poetic meditation on science and life, and then opened the floor up to questions from the audience. She talked about her recent adventures in decommodifying her life, her change in name, and her new conception of herself as an artist.

In 2006 and 2007, she documented the process of recording some thirty new songs in her journal, posted on her MySpace page and on issalight.com. In autumn 2008 she finalized three albums. The first one is entitled Dragon Dreams, and was released on December 12, 2008.

In 2009, she released With What Shall I Keep Warm?, with both names, Issa and Jane Siberry listed on the cover. In December 2009, Siberry notified her fans that she had recently changed her name from Issa back to Jane Siberry. The album is the second of a trilogy to be released. In March 2011, the artist advised her fans through her mailing list that the third album of the trilogy has been near completion several times, and that she intends to actually release a fourth disc as part of the collection.

She is a vegetarian.

Musical style

Her music is most commonly compared to artists such as Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Laurie Anderson. She has cited Van Morrison and Miles Davis as being strong creative influences.

Siberry has often criticized the competitive power of commercial radio and the recording industry.Adria, Marco, "Very Siberry," Music of Our Times: Eight Canadian Singer-Songwriters (Toronto: Lorimer, 1990), p. 126. In 2005, Siberry pioneered a self-determined pricing policy through her websiteJane Siberry's Sheeba.ca website with a self-determined pricing policy, . on which the purchaser is given the choices of: standard price (about $0.99 USD/track); pay now, self-priced; pay later, self-priced; or "a gift from Jane". In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Siberry confirmed that since she had instituted the self-determined pricing policy, the average income she receives per song from Sheeba customers is in fact slightly more than standard price.Gill, Alexandra (2006-09-30). ,The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2006-04-03., Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 28, 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-14.

Awards

On August 30, 2005, Jane Siberry was awarded the 2005 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award in music by the Canada Council for the Arts.Canada Council for the Arts, news release, 30 August, 2005, .

Discography

Albums

Studio Albums

*Jane Siberry (1981)

*No Borders Here (1984)

*The Speckless Sky (1985)

*The Walking (1987)

*Bound by the Beauty (1989)

*When I Was a Boy (1993)

*Maria (1995)

*Teenager (1996)

*A Day in the Life (1997)

*Hush (2000)

*Shushan the Palace: Hymns of Earth (2003)

*Dragon Dreams (as Issa) (2008)

*With What Shall I Keep Warm? (2009)

Live albums

*Count Your Blessings (1994, live, performances by Jane Siberry, Holly Cole, Rebecca Jenkins, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Victoria Williams)

*Child: Music for the Christmas Season (1997, live)

*Lips: Music for Saying It (1999, live)

*Tree: Music for Films and Forests (1999, live)

Compilations

*A Collection 1984-1989 (1995) - North American "best-of"

*Summer in the Yukon (1995) - UK-only "best of"

*New York City Trilogy (1999) - 4-CD box set of live albums '"Tree'", '"Child'" and '"Lips"'

*City (2001) - Collaborations, non-album tracks and rarities

*Love is Everything: The Jane Siberry Anthology (2002) - 2-CD "best of", 1981 - 2002

Chart singles

Siberry has placed three singles in the Canadian RPM Hot 100:

*"Mimi On The Beach" (1984) - #68

*"One More Colour" (1985) - #27

*"Sail Across The Water" (1993) - #66

Two other tracks made RPM's Adult Contemporary charts:

*"Map Of The World (Part II)" (1986) - #17

*"Calling All Angels" (1992) - #9

Compilation albums

Siberry has also contributed tracks to a number of movie soundtracks and compilation albums:

*Until the End of the World, 1991 ("Calling All Angels")

*Kick at the Darkness, 1991 ("A Long Time Love Song", duet with Martin Tielli)

*Toys, 1992 ("Happy Workers (reprise)")

*The Crow, 1994 ("It Can't Rain All the Time")

*Faraway, So Close, 1994 ("Slow Tango")

*Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro, 1997 ("When I Think of Laura Nyro")

*Women Like Us: Lesbian Favorites,Rhino Entertainment, Various Artists,

Women Like Us: Lesbian Favorites, Rhino.com online store, . 1997 ("Temple")

*Pay It Forward, 1998 ("Calling All Angels")

*Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot, 2004 ("With All Your Heart")

*Whatever: The 90s Pop and Culture Box, 2005 ("Calling All Angels")

The Taxi Ride was the closing scene song in the film "The Gymnast" (2006) http

Covers

Her song "One More Colour" was covered by Sarah Polley on the soundtrack to The Sweet Hereafter, and by the Rheostatics on their Introducing Happiness album. k.d. lang covered "The Valley" and "Love Is Everything" on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel.

Rock Plaza Central covered "You Don't Need"; and "Calling All Angels" was covered by The Wailin' Jennys in 2009.

References

This text has been derived from Jane Siberry on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0