MELISSA FORBES
"NO MORE MONDAYS"
TRACKLISTING
(1) Intro - 1:03
(2) Black Coffee/Brown Sugar - 3:45
(3) Broken Wings (For Chet) - 3:12
(4) Don't Stop Til You Get Enough - 4:00
(5) Thinking You Over - 3:49
(6) The Weekday Sun - 3:58
(7) Rising Up - 2:54
(8) Shadows of Love (Love for Sale) - 5:28
(9) You're My Alter Ego/Nothing Else Matters - 5:17
(10) Still - 5:03
(11) Blackheart Blues - 5:05
(12) As I Sing - 3:27
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ALBUM DESCRIPTION
"No More Mondays" is the outstanding debut album of Australian singer-songwriter and ex-lawyer, Melissa Forbes. Self-produced, recorded in just three days, and released on Melissa's own independent record label, Kitten Kong Records, "No More Mondays" is an album which ambitiously and successfully fuses a range of genres including jazz, soul, r&b, pop, blues & folk. It includes original songs, standards & jazzified takes on popular tunes.
On "No More Mondays" Melissa seamlessly integrates her conservatorium jazz training with adult contemporary grooves, producing an album of diverse and refreshingly different tracks. Eight of Melissa's own songs are featured on the album and each reflects a different aspect of her broad range of musical influences and tastes.
Released independently in Australia in 2005, "No More Mondays" spent three months in the Top 10 of the Australian Independent Jazz Chart. Through CD Baby & iTunes, the album has subsequently found new homes in 17 countries worldwide and more than half of all states in the USA. A 5-track EP follow-up release by Melissa Forbes is planned for late 2007.
ALBUM CREDITS
* All music written by Melissa Forbes except 1, 2, 4 & 9
* Produced by Melissa Forbes with Ben Stewart
* Recorded at Jumpstart Studios, Brisbane, Australia
* Engineered by Ben Stewart
* Mastered by Dave Neil at Jumpstart Studios
* Australian Record Label (Independent): Kitten Kong Records
www.kittenkong.com
www.melissaforbes.com
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"NO MORE MONDAYS"
(Review Quotes)
The Muse's Muse (USA)
"Melissa's roster of well-written songs flow effortlessly into each other like water into streams, showcasing musically fluid tracks that are defined by her technically precise vocals and high production values. From beginning to end this project stimulates your ears, thoughts, and emotions while smoothly blending Jazz and R&B into a genre that Melissa can call her own."
Soul Tracks (USA)
"Forbes mixes elements of jazz, pop, lounge and soul into a very enjoyable adult disc that feels like a live nightclub performance. She has a gorgeous, clear voice and precise phrasing, and nails this mix of original tunes and some unusual remakes."
Arthaus NYC (USA)
"Melissa Forbes has a smoky, soulful jazz voice that is backed by a chitlin circuit jazz band. This combination is a winner making No More Mondays a collection of sultry, smoky head nodding modern classics. No need for the skip button on this disc. You will want to play this one all the way through repeatedly."
Smooth Jazz & More (USA)
"Melissa Forbes' voice is lively and soulful. If you’re a fan of British R&B singer Lisa Stansfield, then you’ll enjoy her exquisite style. The track arrangements on all the songs are robust and original, concentrating on the Contemporary Jazz and R&B genres. Once this import finds American support, Melissa Forbes' career will take off! Outstanding debut!"
International Online Music Magazine (Canada)
"...classy bluesy vocals and equally classy musicianship that one would expect from a multi Grammy award grabber...exceptional styling in vocal prowess and hauntingly beautiful harmonies from a superbly gifted artist...This is a magnificent album. It feels more like a gift than a review copy."
Smooth Jazz Therapy (UK)
"White female vocalists who dip their toes into the cloudy and complex waters of contemporary jazz inevitably draw comparisons with Norah Jones but truth to tell Forbes has a depth to her tones that leaves Jones in the dust. Sophisticated and grown up in its approach, ‘No More Mondays’ deserves to launch Melissa Forbes onto the wider world stage."
Midnight Special Blues (France)
"As far as I remember, the last time a debut album of such a perfect artistic quality had been recorded live in the studio, it was on February 11th, 1963 in London, and the artists were the Beatles. What then to say about yesterday's lawyer Melissa Forbes recording at a stretch her debut album only comparable with the best of Ella, Etta and Aretha altogether? Nothing to say. Relax and float downstream..."
Sonic Soul (Germany)
"...a collection of the finest tunes...this ex-lawyer has managed to leave her own marks on a platform that is already heavily populated with beautifully sounding Soul-Jazz-Pop female artists."
Soul Express (Finland)
"No More Mondays contains some real gems...and what is really notable is that Melissa has written most of the best tracks on the CD."
Indie Music Specialists (Australia)
"...a collection of jazzy, funky, bluesy grooves to ease and please, from fresh takes on standards...through new arrangements of pop and rock covers, to a predominance of interesting originals dealing with staying sane in the rat race, or the tender advent of new love."
Time Off Magazine (Australia)
"No More Mondays is a seductive collection of Forbes’s original compositions and innovative interpretations of jazz standards…with a dash of Metallica and Michael Jackson!"
Australian Jazz Scene (Australia)
"...a soul singer with a bluesy, jazzy style that is unique among Australian vocalists...the voice is endearing and the CD will do nicely until Melissa comes to a venue near you."
Rave Magazine (Australia)
"Melissa Forbes is a jazz singer with a difference: not only does she mostly sing her own songs on her debut album, but the covers she chooses are largely not jazz standards but reworked rock and pop songs. The best part is she somehow makes it all work."
Queensland Pride Magazine (Australia)
"Melissa's strong and sultry voice is a wonderful instrument that takes us on a chilled journey through her own original tunes, some classics and her take on some more contemporary tunes."
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