Refuge Refuge 
Jennifer Berezan's long-awaited new release, "Refuge,"
is the most direct and powerful recording yet from an original talent whose musical vision is a fresh
blend of folk, rock and urban country. Issued on her Edge of Wonder label, "Refuge" is Berezan's
fourth album, recorded in a style she honed years before the term Americana was created to
identify it.
Composing songs over the five years since her NAIRD award-nominated 1992 "Borderlines" CD, she took them into Pleasanton, California's No Free Lunch Recording Bistro not far from her Berkeley home. Berezan's superb voice and her guitar playing (which has won her such fans as avant rocker Henry Kaiser) have moved more up front on this, her most acoustic recording.
Her musical partners on Refuge are musicians who have long toured with her: guitarist Nina Gerber, singers Chris Webster and Anthony Costello (who co-produced Refuge with Jennifer), bassist don benedictson (who mixed the album, he also produced Ferron's "Driver"), percussionist and string wizard Joe Craven, Mumbo Gumbo drummer Rick Letter, along with fiddler Laurie Lewis and Ferron's amazing cellist Jami Sieber.
It became an international project (as do many of Canadian-born Berezan's endeavors) when the album was mixed at "The Factory" in Vancouver, Canada, then mastered in San Francisco.
Her intense and personal approach to music as a transforming experience comes through in songs that share a common theme, refuge as a place of safety and strength that can also provide a home, a community, and meaning in an increasingly technological and dehumanizing world.
"Crazy Saints" updates the story of Cassandra, the seer and truth-teller who predicted the fall of Troy by putting her in today's Los Angeles. "Turning of the Wheel" (also recorded by Chris Webster on her CD, "Drive") confronts the inevitability of change in a powerful folk-rock ballad setting. The enigmatic and haunting "Evie" is a riveting tale of honest love in an intolerant culture.
"If I Can't Dance" is Berezan's inspired anthem that takes its cue from rabble-rouser Emma Goldman's declaration about revolutions, set to a fresh Afro-Celtic rhythm. "it's about the importance of art, of creation and celebration in the context of political work," Berezan says.
Berezan has followed her muse in creating "Refuge", a musical clearing away of obstacles in the
search for truth in difficult times. As she sings: " Taking a stand isn't easy when cool is in fashion /
But the fate of this world is dependent on living with passion." This is a breathtaking new album in
which passion comes through in these moving songs of change and hope.
FAME Review
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Roberta B. Schwartz rschwartz@oeb.harvard.edu
Refuge is the work of a mature artist at her best. Dipping into folk, pop, blues and a bit of country, Berezan blends these sounds into her own special mix. Whether exploring the uncertainties of love, or the physical terrain of the Canadian prairies, Berezan's stunning vocals, skilled guitar work and poetic lyrics are sure to move us.
The opening cut, Refuge, is a fitting introduction to Berezan's work. A tribute to the places we go to find
security and comfort, Berezan describes
Crazy Saints tells the story of a woman gone mad who lives in a mythical world of her own making. Its lovely, haunting melody is backed by superb work on both acoustic guitar and drums. Berezan pays tribute to the place she grew up in the gentle, lulling country-folk song, Alberta Moon. Nina Gerber provides articulate guitar accompaniment with Chris Webster and Anthony J. Costello on fine backing vocals.
Evie, the recording's best cut, is a stunningly beautiful love song about a young woman's love for another. It
is a perfect vehicle for Berezan's passionate vocals and expressive lyrics:
The upbeat Home to You fuses elements of blues, pop and folk into a delightful mix of acoustic guitars, dobro and percussion. Home is the songwriter's refuge, with the lover who waits for her there. The power and insecurity of love is the territory that Berezan knows best. Whether You Go, featuring delicate guitar work and an understated cello by Jami Sieber, details the emotions of a love that is hard to hold onto. The Woman I Am asks the question "can love survive the storms that life occasionally throws in its way?" Whatever the outcome, with a voice as lovely as Berezan's we are sure to be listening.
Another of the recording's most memorable songs, If I Can't Dance is an uplifting, celebratory romp which
addresses joy in the face of any kind of pain or sorrow.
Closing the recording is a bluesy number, Call It the Blue Sky, which recalls a loved one who is away and deeply missed. This is Berezan at her wonderfully expressive best, and a fitting close to a beautiful collection of songs.
Production by Anthony J. Costello and Jennifer Berezan herself is right on target. The musical
accompaniment and backing vocals provide the best possible backdrop for both Berezan's expressive
vocals and skill on acoustic guitar. Jennifer Berezan is the perfect chanteuse to love by, to listen to, and to
be moved by. It's all there for the listening: the gorgeous alto, the poetic lyrics and the wonderful guitar
work. Take a few moments and fall in love.
Edited by Jeff Wenning
Copyright 1997, Peterborough Folk Music Society.
Check the Fame Web Site for reviews of many other artists
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