Reviews of HeartWalk (Kallet, Epstein and Cicone - Overall Music)
In time for the spring flowers comes the year's most gorgeous album. Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein and Michael Cicone have delighted audiences since 1981, but this collection of close harmonies takes entertainment to ethereal levels. Songs such as "Farthest Field" and "Holy Now" are religion-free spirituals; "My Heart is Ready" could have come from the South African townships; and even silly songs like "When the Traffic Light's Red" are works of sublime grace. The trio is unique in that the lowest voice is Kallet's and the sweetest is Cicone's, with Epstein often filling the middle ranges. Cicone's lead on "Frobisher Bay" has the dulcet quality of a Broadway lead. The instrumentation is mostly sparse or altogether absent. Label this one sheer beauty, sheer joy. - Rob Weir, Valley Advocate
Heart Walk is the fruit of the tree of friendship. These longtime
friends unite about once a decade to record a CD. Their personal
styles widely vary, but when they come together it's a match made in
heaven. About half the CD consists of original songs, which are very
good and the other half their favorites by other writers. The
performance style varies from a cappella harmonies to simple acoustic
instrumentation. It's an amazing CD. --- Rich Warren, host, "Midnight Special"
The problem with the trio of New Englanders Cindy Kallet, Ellen Epstein, and Michael Cicone is that their collaborative recordings are so sadly infrequent. HeartWalk is just the third in 20 years, and like its predecessors it's full of easy vocal rapport, uplifting songs, and an appealing sense of joy and hope. Smooth, interwoven harmony is this trio's signature, on tracks like their unaccompanied arrangement of David Dodson's "Farthest Field", a tribute to lasting friendship, and Epstein's philosophical blues, "Life Comes In". Kallet contributes two pensive songs and a gentle tune on which her guitar is joined by Cicone's hammered dulcimer, and the trio also covers several traditional-rooted contemporary songs with a nautical theme, like Larry Kaplan's tale of a salty captin named "Old Zeb" and Cyril Tawney's lament for "Sally Free and Easy". This is well-crafted music from veteran performers whose quiet optimism is happily contagious. -- Tom Nelligan, Dirty Linen Magazine