Ten Year Night

Ten Year Night

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Finally Lucy Kaplansky lets her own songs take center stage on a wonderful, provocative, and utterly memorable 10-song release. Recording only one cover (a sweet take on Steve Earle's "Somewhere Out There"), Kaplansky and husband Richard Litvin have ample space to examine the complexities of love (won, lost, or soon to be kicked out the door) and the challenges of life. Backed by a sterling core of musicians (including guitarist Larry Williams and backing vocalists Richard Shindell and John Gorka), Kaplansky's oddly pinched yet sumptuously full voice more than rises to the occasion. "Turn the Lights Back On" is the obvious crowd pleaser, but the best moment on this album is its quietest--"Just You Tonight," a spare, acoustic love song that echoes on long after it has finished. --Percy Keegan

Tracks:

Ten Year Night
End Of The Day
One Good Reason
Five In The Morning
Promise Me
Turn The Lights Back On
Just You Tonight
For Once In Your Life
Somewhere Out There
A Child's Hands

Amazon.com

Finally Lucy Kaplansky lets her own songs take center stage on a wonderful, provocative, and utterly memorable 10-song release. Recording only one cover (a sweet take on Steve Earle's "Somewhere Out There"), Kaplansky and husband Richard Litvin have ample space to examine the complexities of love (won, lost, or soon to be kicked out the door) and the challenges of life. Backed by a sterling core of musicians (including guitarist Larry Williams and backing vocalists Richard Shindell and John Gorka), Kaplansky's oddly pinched yet sumptuously full voice more than rises to the occasion. "Turn the Lights Back On" is the obvious crowd pleaser, but the best moment on this album is its quietest--"Just You Tonight," a spare, acoustic love song that echoes on long after it has finished. --Percy Keegan

Customer Reviews:

Unforgettable Singer/Songwriter.......2007-04-06

I first saw Lucy Kaplansky in the Detroit area at some sort of art festival. It must have been the early 90's. She was singing a song, and I'm pretty sure she was playing the piano. Anyway, her voice caught my attention and it stopped me in my tracks. Hardly anyone was listening because they were busily passing by with their bags of 'artsy' stuff, but when the song was over, she spoke into the microphone in such a friendly way, and she managed to sneak her name into the topic several times. I'll never forget that day, and her name stuck with me. Lucy Kaplansky, Lucy Kaplansky. I suppose that was very clever on her part. Anyway, I've been a fan ever since, and I really love this particular cd. She's a gifted songwriter.

Lucy's Best Try It You'll Like It :) .......2006-06-10

This is Lucy K's best CD. If you want to get familiarized with her music, this is a good one to start with. Best songs are: "Just You Tonight," "For Once in Your Life," Ten Year Night," "Somewhere Out There," and "Five in the Morning." I disagree with this reviewer who said, "'For Once in Your Life' also strains to be a "deep" hymn to those carrying emotional baggage they can't drop but the tune seems oddly upbeat and Lucy's voice too lilting for the heavy subject. It just doesn't work for me."

All I can say is that this whole 1999 collection works for me. Not a bad song on this CD.

Looks like I'm in the minority.......2005-04-19

I consider myself a singer-songwriter/new folk fan (I love Shawn Colvin, much of Dar Williams' stuff, Sarah McLachlan, Mary Chapin-Carpenter,Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer) and I'd heard good things about her (not to mention the Colvin connection was enticing) so I borrowed this disc from my library.

I'll echo what some others have said in that most of the ones I enjoyed best seemed to be the most spare, least produced offerings.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Promise Me" is a 'missing you from the road' song and while the sentiment isn't new, it's heartfelt ("I'm counting the white lines/the measures of road time/They're broken in pieces/like my heart today") and sounds very nice with the John Gorka harmony. It's a keeper. "Just You Tonight" is simplicity itself: Larry Campbell's acoustic, Zev Katz's bass, and Lucy. The only studio "trick" is Jennifer Kimball's lovely harmony. The song is bewitching. The vulnerability in "A Child's Hands" (where Lucy realizes that the fears of youth still linger within) make it a fine effort, too.

LOW SPOTS:
"Turn the Lights Back On" sounds like it wants to be the anthem for women in passionless relationships, but the overly wordy third verse doesn't fit the meter and makes the tune stumble. "For Once in Your Life" also strains to be a "deep" hymn to those carrying emotional baggage they can't drop but the tune seems oddly upbeat and Lucy's voice too lilting for the heavy subject. It just doesn't work for me.

BOTTOM LINE:
Kaplansky does have a fine voice, if not particularly distinctive. The songs here are nice, but in the end only some of them were genuine "wows" for me. A good one if you're a diehard folkie/singer-songwriter only person, but those whose musical interests scatter across the board might not find this sufficiently fantastic to choose this over another act.

Excellent folk-country singer-songwriter.......2004-06-07

Lucy is one of many excellent folk-country singer-songwriters to emerge on the American music scene in the nineties. In a crowded market, Lucy does not get the same level of recognition accorded to Lucinda Williams or Mary Chapin-Carpenter but Lucy is just as good as those two.

This classic album is a wonderful example of Lucy's skills as both singer and songwriter. It opens with the title track, about the tenth anniversary of a relationship. End of the day is about people led a contented but modest lifestyle before chasing the money, only to discover that they were better off materially but less satisfied with life. One good reason is about a woman asking her partner to choose between her and the bottle, knowing that he'd choose the bottle. Five in the morning is a song about a woman who leaves home while everybody is asleep, hoping to find a better life. Promise me is about being on the road and unable to establish a relationship. The remaining songs explore various aspects of love - the joys and the problems.

If you enjoy contemporary folk-country music, do not overlook Lucy Kaplansky. This was my first album of her music but it certainly won't be the last.

Another tremendous album by Lucy.......2002-09-25

This one has it all--great, personal lyrics (Just You Tonight will have you running for the kleenex), well-written songs and playing. The title track is a real keeper, as is the cover of Steve Earle's Somewhere Out There.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful set.......2004-10-24

This set is for serious piano fans, not for the ones who just start building up a CD library. I sort of agree with one of the reviewers, that there are many repetitions. But if you love piano, you wish to hear the same piece in different interpretations. Indeed, I really like this feature of this set: I can compare the style of various performers.
If you are into piano music, I encourage you to grab this set, if you can find it used (not available anymore at Amazon). I also hope, that there will be a continuation, in which other great pianists, who were left out because of the space limitation, will be included (Prokofiev, Bartok, Dohnanyi, etc).

Don't buy the whole thing.......2001-07-08

I've put a lot of thought into constructing my own piano library, and unless you can easily afford the present set, I would recommend a different approach to collecting piano music. This set emphasizes the piano player rather than the piano composer. Of course both are important. For example, the "Barcarolle" appears in this set EIGHT times. I'm sorry, although I love the piece, if I am going to spend [the money], I would prefer more variety. Where are the Alkan, Medtner, and Szymanawski compositions represented in this set? I appreciate having so many interpretations of the same pieces, but I would also appreciate more exposure to pieces not so popular. The selection by Philips which I consider a somewhat popular selection suggests to me that when Philips constructed this set, they realized most people would be buying the disks separately, and this affected the selection. And it's not just that obscure composers are left out, but also if one spends so much money on piano recordings, you'd think you'd want to buy pieces from a composer in completeness. For example, an alternative way to construct a library would be to combine purchases of complete cycles, e.g. complete Beethoven sonatas, complete Scriabin preludes, etc., along with outstanding recordings of more particular pieces. I'm not sure why someone would want to concentrate so much on so many famous artists, instead of acquiring complete sets of compositions. For me the composer is more important, or at least, if I am going to spend [the money]on piano recordings, I'd prefer more complete, rather than snapshot, exposure to the composers.

Not Insane.......2001-01-02

I had to write this review, as I am enthralled with this set. I have been going through it in order having already purchased a few individual units from the collection earlier. I am not sure what `insane' was talking about as there is NO repetition. Sure some pianists perform the same pieces, isn't that what they did in reality? The idea is to appreciate the different nuances and approaches taken by these artists. You will then enjoy these pieces from a better vantage.

It is a large ambitious contribution to the art of great piano playing. It is a labor of love and represents a tremendous amount of research and cooperation between many record companies. Rather then representing insanity, it is a resource to treasure.

Yes experts can quibble over who was left out, and what performances were inserted. I do not think such a massive undertaking could have been accomplished without someone being able to find faults. Overall however, unless you already have a monumental collection, (it would have to be almost legendary), this incredible set will give you a rewarding look into 74 of the greatest pianist of all time. You will come away with a honed sense of appreciation for your likes and dislikes. You will undoubtedly become someone who will search out recordings and be able to enjoy them for the rest of your life with a refined ear.

The only negative is this price. I would shop around, as it is daunting to spend 2 thousand dollars on such a collection. Of course you do get 200 CD's. However, the used collections might be good to consider.

Enjoy these masterpieces. I am not ashamed of owning this music as `insane' implies. I am proud to have enriched my life.

insane.......2000-10-12

This is not a good library of piano music. The reason is, there is too much repetition. I'm not saying the series is bad. The series is wonderful. But this collection as a whole is a bad libary. For the same money you could collect together (with more effort) an incredible libary of piano music. There are so many wonderful cd's out there, this is just a waste of money. If you can actually afford to spend 2 grand on piano music, then either (1) spend the time and do some research to get a good library of piano music, which will probably include some selections from this collection, or (2) hire someone to do that for you. Personally I would be embarrassed to own this whole collection, since that shows I have put little thought into my purchases of piano music.

For the real music lover.......2000-03-12

This series attempts to present important and representative performances by most of the major pianists of the 20th century. One might quibble a bit with the choices, but the works presented are of consistently high quality, and often do represent what may be the best works of a performer. Since this covers most of the time that recorded music existed, some of the recordings are technically challenged, as there is only so much one can do to enhance an old recording. Still, these appear to have been treated with love and respect in their restorations. Since this series is so large (and expensive!) one is tempted to "cherry pick" through the series, yet by doing so one can easily overlook gems by artists one is less familiar with. This large a set must inevitably have many versions of the same pieces, and takes many hours to listen to. The true enthusiast will appreciate the differences in interpretation, whereas the less experienced listener may find the set repetitive and overwhelming. If one has the time to really dig into this set, it can provide years of exploration and discovery. It would make a wonderful gift for some special music lover in your life ... or for yourself!

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