Priscilla Ahn first came to my attention via Joshua Radin’s first CD release where she lent her voice to backup vocals and harmony with Radin (done in his apartment!).
Now she has a new CD that’s launched on Blue Note Records, entitled, A GOOD DAY
In case you are unfamiliar with her work or her incredible voice, here’s a bit of the release that is the best synopsis of her current work
For A Good Day, Ahn reunited with Waronker, and along with multi-instrumentalist Gus Seyffert—who co-wrote “Astronaut” with Ahn—the trio basically recorded the tunes live. “Gus would play bass or guitar, I would play my guitar and sing, Joey would play drums,” explains Ahn. “Once we laid that base down we would overdub quirky things. After a month of just us, we decided we should get some other people in there and add some new sounds.”
Among the guests making their own memorable contributions were keyboardists Greg Kurstin (the bird and the bee, Lily Allen), Keefus Ciancia (Fiona Apple, Cassandra Wilson, T Bone Burnett) and Zac Rae (Fiona Apple, Macy Gray), guitarist/film composer Mike Andrews (Me and You and Everyone We Know); musical saw player Ursula Knudsun; cellist/string arranger Oliver Kraus (Joshua Radin, Beth Orton, Liz Phair); and celebrated jazz keyboardist Larry Goldings. Veteran R&B session singers Jim Gilstrap and Orin Waters lend their voices to “Leave The Light On,” a gentle, folk-gospel sing-along. Ahn herself plays a wide range of instruments including guitar, ukulele, piano, harpsichord, harmonica, and autoharp, amongst others.
Waronker’s approach is elegantly economical. He keeps Ahn’s pristine voice front and center, surrounding her with subtle, beautiful sounds from a range of unusual instruments. A Good Day is grounded in folk, country and pop, yet it’s never constrained by the dictates of any genre. For example, Ahn ingeniously transforms Willie Nelson’s breakup ballad, “Opportunity To Cry” into an upbeat shuffle, while maintaining all its pathos. Though Ahn presents a dreamy, sunny facade in her lyrics, her songs display a serious emotional depth and an almost preternatural maturity. When Ahn impetuously hit the road a few years back, she may not have known exactly where she was going, but A Good Day proves she’s always been headed in the right direction
See more content/videos and 411 on http://www.la-story.com/podcast/priscilla_ahn_on_tour_promoting_cd_talks_about_lif/
Thank you to Priscilla Ahn for her time in talking about her CD, music and life as a musician.
Check out Priscilla on www.PriscillaAhn.com
Facebook
Her CD A GOOD DAY is available on Blue Note Records.
www.myspace.com/priscillaahn
