One Kiss

This album completes the "Sophisticated Pop" trilogy of the New York based singer with SKIP. The basic versions of the tracks recorded for "One Kiss" had, for the most part, already come about prior to "Peace Of Mind" , her debut album for SKIP. What's important is that they have now received what studios term "final form and finesse". The amazingly transparent production presents mostly originals in English and occasionally in Spanish, the fragile instrumentation of top studio-musicians like Wolfgang Haffner (drums), Tim Lefebvre (bass) or Manolo Badrena (percussion) is a perfect undercurrent of sounds laid down to match the intensity of her delicate vocals. On top solistic contributions of Chuck Loeb (guitar) or the saxofonists Bill Evans or Nelson Rangell create sophisticated musical environment. On this album Carmen Cuesta-Loeb has again chosen two cover versions of such great composers in Pop music history as Antonio Carlos Jobim and George Harrison. While Jobim's "How Insensitive" has an urgent beauty to it that makes the lyrics perceivable in a unique way, the treatment of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" has surely never been given such a sparkle in such lucent simplicity. "One Kiss" is another piece of proof that Pop music can move within a sophisticated musical environment, yet still reach a large number of wide-ranging music-lovers. Marie Claire 10/03: "Quiet and dreamy, sensitively and frugally arranged. Nothing surpasses this voice, so velvety-soft and soulful." Good Times 4/03: "This crossover between Jazz, 'Pop with class' and fine craftsmanship is a must on the list to recommend. Hardly anyone else has such a skilled understanding of how to span the arc between dancing lightness and a relaxed, jazz-club atmosphere straight through to the melancholy of Spain and on to the sensuality of South American rhythms." Jazz Podium 7/03: "Interesting for everyone who likes well-made Pop music with Jazz aesthetics." Tonart 3/03: "Definitely an audiophile experience." Stereoplay 8/03: "Atmospherically yearning, audially brilliantly embellished ballads." Audio 8/03: "Carmen Cuesta-Loeb has a charming understanding of how to stage sunny Pop with a multicultural touch or a lazy Jazz ambience." Jazzzeit (Austria) 10/03: "The crème de la crème of soft-sound sorceresses." Morgenpost Hamburg June 24, 2003: "A burst of happiness."