/Rock-Pop/American

COURTIN, CHRISTINA
christina courtin

Release Date: 06/07/2009

this young brooklyn, ny-based singer, songwriter and violinist self-deprecatingly describes herself as a 'non-prodigy', but her many credits and collaborations in both the pop and classical worlds suggest otherwise. the list of the artists with whom this julliard graduate has already worked is as impressive as it is eclectic; among them, are ryan adams, yo-yo ma, dawn upshaw, don byron, kanye west, mark o'connor, teddy thompson and composer osvaldo golijov. with her nonesuch debut, courtin displays remarkable maturity as a songwriter and preternatural sophistication as a vocalist. though she has garnered a considerable following for high-voltage live performances, courtin turns her bravura style inside out on disc. her approach is disarmingly intimate, understated; courtin's vocals are warm, gentle and dreamy - immediately welcoming to first-time listeners and full, as she might put it, of real feeling. courtin embraces rock, folk, jazz and new-music elements on this disc, co-produced by courtin with bassist greg cohen (tom waits, ornette coleman, antony and the johnsons) and courtin's frequent band-mate, soul-jazz guitarist ryan scott. they cut the majority of these tracks in los angeles with a stellar group of veteran players, including keyboardist benmont tench, drummer jim keltner, pedal steel player greg leisz, punch brothers violinist gabe witcher and all-around mad genius jon brion. additional sessions in new york city featured guitarist marc ribot (elvis costello, waits, los cubanos postizos) and pianist rob burger (of the tin hat trio). pulling together sessions from both coasts was engineer-mixer david boucher (randy newman, andrew bird). courtin arranged most of the strings herself, performed by brooklyn rider, a boundary-pushing string quartet that also plays in yo yo ma's silk road ensemble. the only notable thing courtin didn't do on this debut is play violin though she does contribute some evocative viola and toy piano to 'hedonistic paradise'.