On her exceptional new album, On a Carousel, Sheera Ben-David celebrates a decade of songs from her life. Recorded live at the Metropolitan Room, with her multi-talented brother Adam Ben-David as musical director, the album is a theatrical journey of reflection that resonates with anyone who ever had a dream. Starting with the lilting “I Miss the Mountains” (Kitt-Yorkey), Ben-David captures both an innocence and a wise maturity fused with a yearning for life that is palpable. With careful phrasing, she unleashes a waterfall of emotion in song that allows the listener to peek inside a centered artist who has weathered some bumps and moved on. Warm readings on “Here’s to Life” (Butler-Molinary) and Leslie Bricusse’s “When I Look in Your Eyes” are perfect samplings of one who has lived and understands the subtexts she’s singing about. She digs even deeper on John Bucchino’s “If I Ever Say I’m Over You” and “This Moment” as well as on two of Jacques Brel’s frenetic mad scenes, “Brussels” and “Carousel,” where she gets to breathe new life into these showy theatrical neo-classic war horses.

The album was recently named Cabaret Hotline Online’s 2008 Outstanding Female Vocalist Album. Complementing Adam Ben-David’s sublime arrangements are Mat Fieldes on bass, David Rozenblatt and Damien Bassman on drums and J.J. McGeehan on guitars.

John Hoglund
Cabaret Scenes
January/February 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org