Holly Cole - Temptation (1995)

I have mentioned Holly Cole as one of my favourite female jazz singers, who is quite underrated in my opinion. Here is one of her projects, Temptation, a tribute album to Tom Waits, which I would like to share both with avaxhome jazz cats and Tom Waits loyals.

The CD was ripped with dBpowerAMP using Lame with Alt Preset Standard setting. If you like the music, you can support the artist by buying the album.


On her third American album, Holly Cole turned in a set of Tom Waits songs recorded with an augmented version of her trio; in addition to piano and bass, there are drums and guitar, as well as the occasional contribution from The Canadian Brass and harmonica player Howard Levy. The result puts a welcome twist on the songs, which include numbers from each stage of Waits's career, and reasserts Cole's talent as an interpreter.

Entertainment Weekly (8/18/95, p.56) - '…What's consistently effective is the minimal soundscape crafted by producer Craig Street…' - Rating: B Q (10/95, pp.113-114) - 3 Stars - Good - '…a rum idea–a whole album of Tom Waits songs…the rough textures cleverly softened…' NME (10/7/95, p.49) - 7 (out of 10) - '…a minimalist KD Lang….most effective on the Shirelles-esque sass of `Jersey Girl' and the scary `I Don't Wanna Grow Up'–where the Waits original was a rude kid rant, here it's an introverted suicidal lullaby…'


1 Take Me Home (Waits) (2:28)
2 Train Song (Waits) (3:26)
3 Jersey Girl (Waits) (3:45)
4 Temptation (Waits) (3:05)
5 Falling Down (Waits) (5:18)
6 Invitation to the Blues (Waits) (4:23)
7 Cinny's Waltz (Waits) (2:34)
8 Frank's Theme (Waits) (3:10)
9 Little Boy Blue (Waits) (2:57)
10 I Don't Wanna Grow Up (Brennan, Waits) (4:30)
11 Tango 'Til They're Sore (Waits) (4:28)
12 Heart of Saturday Night (Waits) (3:37)
13 Soldier's Things (3:23)
14 I Want You (Waits) (2:56)
15 Good Old Girl Waltz (1:35)
16 Briar and the Rose (Waits) (5:19)


The Holly Cole Trio: Holly Cole (vocals); Aaron Davis (piano); David Piltch (acoustic & electric basses, percussion). Additional personnel: Rhoda Dog (vocals); Phil Dwyer (alto saxophone); Perry White (tenor saxophone); Earl Seymour (baritone saxophone); Howard Levy (harmonica); Anne Lederman (5-string violin); Douglas Perry (viola); Anne Bourne (cello); Rob Piltch (acoustic guitar); Kevin Breit (electric slide guitar); Dougie Bowne (drums); Cyro Baptista (percussion); The Colettes (background vocals). Canadian Brass: Ronald Romm, Frederic Mills (trumpet); David Ohanian (French horn); Eugene Watts (trombone); Charles Daellenbach (tuba). Recorded at Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton, Ontario Canada and McClear Pathe, Toronto, Ontario Canada.


Holly Cole (born November 25, 1963 in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian jazz singer, particularly popular in Canada and Japan for her versatile voice and her adventurous repertoire, which spans such divergent genres as show tunes, rock, and country music.

In 1983, she travelled to Toronto to seek a musical career. In 1986, she founded a trio with bassist David Piltch and pianist Aaron Davis. Offered a record deal in 1989, the Holly Cole Trio released an EP, Christmas Blues, that year, which featured a striking version of The Pretenders' '2,000 Miles'. This was followed by their first full album, Girl Talk, in 1990.

A succession of releases through the early 90's fleshed out the trio's musical daring. For example, 1991's Blame It On My Youth, covers songs by Tom Waits ('Purple Avenue', aka 'Empty Pockets'), Lyle Lovett ('God Will'), includes show tunes such as 'If I Were a Bell' (from Guys and Dolls) and 'On the Street Where You Live' (from My Fair Lady), and even remakes 'Trust In Me', a silly song from Disney's The Jungle Book, into a sultry and sinister song of seduction. Also recorded in this period was a remarkable reinterpretation of Elvis Costello's 'Alison'.

Following 1993's Don't Smoke In Bed, the trio took on its most audacious effort, a CD entirely of songs by Tom Waits, called Temptation. This 1995 release also dropped the 'Trio' from the label.

Cole next went into a two-album flirtation with pop music, perhaps keeping with the 'diva' fad of the late 90's. These albums, Dark Dear Heart (1997) and Romantically Helpless (2000) veered further from jazz by introducing pop elements to Cole's sound.

In 2001, she returned to the Christmas Jazz roots of her first CD with Baby It's Cold Outside, which included such should-be classics as 'Christmas Time is Here' (from A Charlie Brown Christmas), 'Santa Baby', and the title track. Swapping cold for hot, she moved to a Summer theme in 2003's Shade, this time reinterpreting Cole Porter ('Too Darn Hot'), Irving Berlin ('Heatwave'), and The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson ('God Only Knows').

Cole tours frequently, particularly around the holiday season, in Canada. She was also a part of the 1999 Lilith Fair tour.


Christmas Blues (1989)
Girl Talk (1990)
Blame It on My Youth (1991)
Don't Smoke in Bed (1993)
Temptation (1995)
It Happened One Night (live, 1996)
Dark Dear Heart (1997)
Romantically Helpless (2000)
Baby It's Cold Outside (2001)
Shade (2003)
This House Is Haunted (2006)

1 rar file with recovery record, 74,2 MB, usual password:
http://rapidshare.com/files/944419/HCT.rar