Linda Ronstadt / Ann Savoy
Adieu False Heart

(Vanguard)

First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2006, Volume 13, #7

Written by John Metzger

Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy’s full-length collaboration Adieu False Heart essentially builds upon their joint contributions to the Grammy-nominated, 2002 collection Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music. Although there’s nothing overtly political about their new endeavor, recent events have made it impossible not to read between the lines and attribute greater weight to the album than what initially appears on its surface. For starters, in 2004, Ronstadt was ousted in a well-publicized fashion from Las Vegas’ Aladdin Theatre after she dedicated a song to rabble-rousing documentarian Michael Moore, while Savoy has made a career out of bringing traditional Cajun music to a larger audience. Consequently, whenever the pair sings about a love that has been left behind, as they do on much of Adieu False Heart, it’s hard not to believe that they are paying tribute to the city of New Orleans as well to those who perished in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The music concocted by Ronstadt and Savoy’s stellar backing band — which includes mandolinist Sam Bush; bass player Byron House; guitarists Sam Broussard; Chas Justus, and Joel Savoy; accordionist Dirk Powell; and string players Andrea Zonn, Stuart Duncan, and Krista Wilkinson — treads lightly, and it gently underscores the sorrowful reflection that is inherent in Adieu False Heart’s material. Throughout the effort, Ronstadt and Savoy take turns singing lead as they mix Cajun fare with songs penned by the likes of Bill Monroe, Julie Miller, and Richard Thompson before concluding with an utterly graceful rendition of The Left Banke’s Walk Away Renee. Nevertheless, it’s whenever they blend their voices in perfect harmony that Adieu False Heart truly comes alive. Aching but lovely and filled with a sense of longing for something that likely never again will be the same, Adieu False Heart says more about the state of life in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi than any of the soundbites that the politicians have spouted. ½

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2006 The Music Box