WAITING TO FLY -- Dual Talent of Danielle Antonio by
(Jeff Cuttino)An artist who started in crunchy Boulder and has migrated back to the more appropriate nightclub climes of NYC, Danielle Antonio brings a retro sound to the Women of Substance music movement so committed to the point of being nonconformist. If you’ve never given that dreamy woman’s power sound out of the '70s (including the likes of Donna Summer, Carly Simon, and Toni Tennille) a chance, Antonio’s cadenced approach calls your attention to the fact that there still exists a developed, sophisticated genre with genuine standards where vocal styling and competent musician’s approach is measured. It’s a deliberate approach in which care must be taken, and a true love of music and its enjoyment in performance are obvious in the songs Antonio and earlier like songstresses of quality offer.
Antonio has the ability to switch adopted influences with every changing song on her release, ELEMENTS. In “Caught In A Landslide”, she co-opts the lilting vibrato of Ronnie Spector, in a song beginning with the concern, “Too much illusion in the air…” It’s in this song that the listener is introduced to Antonio’s compositional talents regarding vocal arrangement. She places an enormous emphasis on background vocals with great success, as she layers her own multi-registering voice behind, above, and below her “front” voice, weaving a nuanced and pleasing audial tapestry.
“Got No Go” begins with a desperate tenderness evocative of Lionel Richie’s “Hello”, with lyrics that adopt a synthesis of beauty and pain (“Used to think that starry nights made me shine”). The song gives the melancholy effect the mature mind concluding and resolving the anger of one’s youth.
“Hold A Candle” and “Hurricane” curiously deal with some sort of religious disillusionment and disengagement made possible by romantic discovery. While “Candle” adopts a jazzy-though-less-jet-set Sade sound, “Hurricane” brings in the soulf of Aretha a la “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”. Antonio can certainly get funky, in that Rickie Lee Jones/Edie Brickell way, but displays a virtuosity and precision more worthy of the Lilith Fair set.
Antonio is as dextrous in her piano and keyboard colorings as her vocals are, able to impart improvisational flavor in common interplay with the other musicians in her very able studio band. These dual abilities only need the harnessing of a good producer who could bring about an organization that can let the listener fully experience the width and breadth of Antonio’s potential. When watching her live performances, the viewer desires that she jump out from behind the keyboards and tear into some Janis Joplin-esque heart-baring. Yes, Antonio is a bit of a victim of her own double-talent, tied together, one keeping the other from flying. With the right help, Antonio can let us in for a Bacchanalian two-course feast of her talents in the future, a feast of which we know she’s fully capable of serving.
Let’s hope that Danielle Antonio and her listeners are so fortunate that she come upon a producer with the foresight to take her talents to a more conspicuous level of appreciation.
ING - NYC Marathon by
You truly rocked at this year's 2008 NYC Marathon. It was a huge success and I really thank you for being a part of making it happen. As race entertainment, you guys played such an important role in keeping each of the 39,000 runners motivated and energized throughout the whole course. I can't even begin to tell you about all of the amazing feedback I received regarding how great your band and all the on-course entertainment was this year. Thank you so much for sharing your talent and enthusiasm with the runners, spectators, and NYC community. Your efforts are definitely appreciated and noticed by many . . . I really hope that you plan on returning to perform in 2009, it was a pleasure working with you!
CDREVIEW.net by
With her debut CD, Elements, Danielle delivers a set of savvy songs that are blues-infused, 70s-inspired, and poetically crafted. I thoroughly enjoyed the vast musical styles that Elements showcases. While some songs orient towards piano-based pop-rock, others are chock full of jazz-inspired chord progressions, and some possess underlying funky rhythms and melodic bass lines. There is solid musicality and songwriting on Elements, which is an excellent first release from this independent female artist.
Danielle's vocals are strong and to the point. Her sometimes confessional, sometimes societal, sometimes love-broken lyrics are definitely poignant. Having more uptempo tracks than ballads, this CD energizes me when on foot. "Caught In A Landslide" has a pulsating forward-motion rhythm and a very memorable melody. And there is an overall positive vibe throughout the Elements tracks. The songs "Hold A Candle", "Hurricane", and "Come Togetha" all seem to have this very feel-good vibe. And the more I listened, the fonder I grew of Danielle's hooky choruses and detouring bridges (the bridge, or "release", being the part of the song that deviates from the verse and chorus).
The studio work on Elements never over-shadows Danielle's voice, and offers solid production and instrumental arrangements. At times though, it has me wishing there were more layered-guitar tracks or some guitar-rich solos, especially in the blues-driven songs. Danielle often relies on layers of background vocals on many songs and, although effective, they could possibly be replaced or ejuvenated with a good instrument line or two. She does show some of her key-friendly styling in the songs "Stringing Me Along" and "Come Togetha" and hopefully her live show provides for the musicianship to venture into unrecorded jam territory.
All in all, Elements is a good first listen from a talented girl. I will be back for seconds.
WILDY'S WORLD - CD REVIEWS by
Danielle Antonio definitely has the DIY spirit. Starting out as a singer/songwriter in Denver, CO in 2001, Danielle Antonio has built a library of songs and a score of experiences. 2006 was a watermark year for Ms. Antonio. In that year she relocated to Brooklyn, NY to try to make it in the Big Apple, and also released her debut CD, Elements.
Elements displays a love of rock and roll, 60's era Motown and 1970's soul. Elements is without doubt interesting, at times exciting and mostly successful. Hold A Candle could have walked right off a Phil Spector record, and Hurricane is a soulful rocker that in itself makes this a worthwhile purchase. Stringing Me Along builds on a strong blues/soul riff and a quasi-disco beat to make a great party/dance song.
Other highlights include the straightforward Caught In A Landslide, the bluesy Got No Go and Shadows Of The Moon, which has a bit of a country twang to it. Overall this is an excellent album and all indications point to a bright musical future for Danielle Antonio. Check out Elements -- you won't be disappointed.
