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In any case, there are few singer/songwriters that come close to Joni. There are some fine lyricists, but they can't express their emotions and feelings in their voices as Joni could. There are some excellent voices but their lyrics are bland or trite or so terribly obscure that they aren't worth the effort. However, Forrest’s misery about her “small top-floor flat” seems trivial when she flaunts the wealth she continues to enjoy, including a custom-made spiral staircase, with a cut-out design to “cast light around the small space”. She goes on to move into another property, renting out the first. References to Balenciaga shoes, Gucci scarves and the numerous celebrities with whom she has brushed shoulders abound – and are always pretentious. Barbara Fasano, whose fourth CD BUSY BEING FREE(MAC Award ~MajorRecording of the Year) was released to critical acclaim ("My favorite new vocal album"— Will Friedwald, WSJ) has been hailed as one of the nation’s most stunning and soulful singers. A Resident Artist at New York's legendary Birdland Jazz Club, where she performs Saturday nights, recent highlights include a 2-week Residency in Italy at Monteverdi Tuscany and headlining at the Saratoga Jazz Festival with her trio. For a fun live video clip, GO HERE.In 2022 she headlined for the third time at Music Mountain's Jazz series. For a rather surprising answer to the FAQ "How does a NYC singer prepare for a concert in the mountains?" GO HERE. Other highlights include multiplesold-out engagements at Birdland Theater, London's Pizza Express, & headlining at both Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center. Immediately after her divorce, she recalls, she went on a date with a man who was wearing a T-shirt of “the wrong fabric”, the type that “would not fall into the right-shaped heap on the bedroom floor were he to remove it”, and so of course (of course!) she understands her daughter’s disappointment at a party cake that she believes to be chocolate flavoured, but that is in fact Sachertorte – “a grown-up cake for a grown-up party – not especially sweet, no buttercream inside, just bitter marmalade”. Neither episode illuminates anything about the other. It was well written and funny at times, and I liked the introductory chapters, but quite a bit of it seemed like empty good writing, sort of beautiful, and it felt like she was trying to make it profound, but ultimately meaningless.
Busy Being Free: A Lifelong Romantic is Seduced by Solitude Busy Being Free: A Lifelong Romantic is Seduced by Solitude
Barbara Fasano bears a distant vocal resemblance to Lena Horne... a lyrically sensitive interpreter ... turning the neighborhood into a hotbead of pleasure..."—Stephen Holden, The New York TimesSome things she wrote beautifully about : how we can think our life is going one way and ends up going some where different and how the place you grow up is the source of all shame. A beautiful, unputdownable memoir about love and heartbreak, sex and celibacy, growing up and starting again. * SHEERLUXE * I'm grateful for these supportive words about my work ... "Barbara Fasano sings with such deeply felt belief in her material that the art she practices is closer to pure expression than interpretation. Her take on 'Photographs', in which she brings at least three levels to the song at the same time, is worth the price of the CD." David Meyer from the University of Michigan published a study recently that showed that switching what you’re doing mid-task increases the time it takes you to finish both tasks by 25%,” Bradberry wrote.
Busy Being Free: A Lifelong Romantic is Seduced by Solitude
Karma from NyShe's singing about being free and the guys who want her to settle down with them. She thinks she might love them all but she doesn't want to settle down. She doesn't want to hurt them but hey, would you settle down if you looked like Joni, had her intelligence and talent and was just getting started? I know I wouldn't. But yeah, it must have hurt to have so many wanting a committment from her; kinda selfish on their part in my humble opinion. Nonetheless, I think it made her feel bad...guilty...that they were hurt. She still wanted to see them but she didn't want to see one of them only and be tied down. Good for her. When you swap a Hollywood marriage and a LA mansion with waterside views, for a little attic flat shared only with your daughter, beneath the star-filled sky of deepest North London?Barbara Fasano's BUSY BEING FREE is sheer perfection. This is a CD from a singer who has thrilledme from the first time I heard her. She is in full command and has established herself as one of the top singers of the day." ~ DavidKenney, WBAI "Everything Old Is New Again"
Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest | Waterstones
Forrest is a spirited, energetic writer, and this book, made up of short, vignette-like chapters, flits rapidly between time frames and anecdotes. It’s lively text, but can feel frenzied. Her insistence on comparing details in her present life with musings on her previous sexual encounters often jars. We’re so enamored with multitasking that we think we’re getting more done, even though our brains aren’t physically capable of this,” Bradberry wrote. “Regardless of what we might think, we are most productive when we manage our schedules enough to ensure that we can focus effectively on the task at hand.” Hitting themes of heartbreak, romance, celibacy and self-discovery, it's a testament to the power of putting yourself first. -- Alicia Lansom * REFINERY 29 * Barbara Fasano sings with such deeply felt belief in her material that the art she practices is closer to pure expression than interpretation. Her take on 'Photographs,' in which she brings at least three levels to the song at the same time, is worth the price of the CD."— David Hajdu, music critic for The Nation
A heart-rending and acerbic memoir of appetite and abstinence -- Polly Samson, author of A Theatre for Dreamers The most delicious memoir that kept me in bed all day. I wonder what it is like to live with a mind like Forrest's, which makes such shooting connections between things and sees a great pattern in it all. I think she might be a genius. Eve Babitz didn't die, she just regenerated as Emma Forrest -- Sophie Heawood, author of THE HUNGOVER GAMES Being busy has somehow become a badge of honor. The prevailing notion is that if you aren’t super busy, you aren’t important or hard working,” wrote Bradberry in his post How Being Busy Makes You Unproductive. “The truth is, busyness makes you less productive.” Taste, built-in dramatic chops, the ability to manipulate time, and, above all, respect for lyrics... Ms. Fasano has plenty of the above," ~ Harvey Siders in JazzTimes.