CD Reviews
by Charmin' Dee

Arbitrary scale, what to say about "Lucky Charm" … Hmmmm well first it sticks right out at you that this album has a very interesting musicality to it and gets top marks for it's fusion of folk and swing. Very well recorded, pump it up and it sounds great, seeing as it is a first effort for the artist and there is A LOT of front and center acoustic guitar and voice in it is just a tribute to this fact! Now as for songs that stick out to the dancer in you? Well Has anybody seen him, written specifically for and inspired by Lindy-hoppers is the CLEAR pick hit on this album and a regular on my play list at the Petit Medley, cool arrangement. Lucky Charm will certainly be a charm to the "groove" style lindy-hopper. However the album is geared strictly towards smoother style dancing. If you don't like folk music with or without the country feel to it, you are likely to forget about a few tracks on the album such as the otherwise excellent Poem song (that could easily be off of a Sarah McLachlan album…).

Now as far as what I personally think about the album? It is a great first effort for our very own Heather Horak (she is now officially a Canadian resident). This album is an interesting fusion and a testament to how such things happen: Heather herself puts it best when she says: "I used to be the total folk ballad chick. Not that that was a bad thing to be, they were good, moving ballads. But the dancers brought out the swing in me!". I was pleasantly surprised -knowing Heather's background- to find so many songs with serious syncopation in them!

Heather is an accomplished artist as she displays strong skills on vocals and guitar/banjo on the album. The band is strong especially Petr Cancura who gets my hats off on several tracks he brings just the right touch to take them to a better place! Every song REALLY tells a story that seems to be very personal to Heather, you feel like you get to see a part of her life in every track: Her imagination of the perfect guy that keeps her from moving on Phantom Man, Her new found love for Quebec and her difficulty immigrating here Poutine, how she used to really get off on driving substitute teachers crazy when she was in school Substitute…

You are in the market to buy some music, well if you love Jump Blues, Neo-swing, straight jazz etc… You probably are knocking at the wrong door… If your favourite jazz album is Stan Getz Jazz Samba or some later Miles Davis then you are on the right track. Finally if you like folk music, Sarah Mac and Patricia Barber style Jazz you will love this album as it demands of you openness and the affection for the new and true artistic creation! It really is "Folk that Swings" and there are songs that are just not swing at all.

Personally as a swing dancer I hope she comes out with a follow up with more varied tempos and a greater swing feel, but she might also know great success in a more mainstream way, who knows!

Get Heather's album directly at http://www.heatherhorak.com/

All the Best!
Dee.

If you have questions, comments, would like to join the next review panel or have your album reviewed, e-mail Dee!

THE 5-MARTINI RATING SYSTEM Each song on the album is evaluated for each criteria and the total number of martinis is then divided by the number of songs to arrive at an average for the album. Up to five martinis are awarded to each song based on the following criteria:
Recording Quality	Can you actually hear the music on the album? Is it well mastered, etc.
Skip/Snooze Potential	Is this song a definite skip on the CD or are you prone to fall asleep during this song? Obviously the martini is given if this IS NOT THE CASE!!!
Danceability	Since we swingers are dancers this is an important one. Whether it be Jive, ECS, Lindy who cares, as long as you can shake a limb!!!
Musicality	It's a cover of a well known song that brings something new to the table; the band/vocalists are great; the material is original, be it with regards to composition, style, sound etc.
Hit Potential	Is this song one that would at best find it's way to a home compilation CD or is it a definite HIT waiting to happen.