By Carl Begai
The long- awaited and oft-delayed third album from German singer / songwriter Cynthia Nickschas is exactly what and ultimately more than what the fans expected. Truth be told, as gut-wrenching as it is for any artist to be forced to wait to unveil new work, the pandemic and dealing with assorted life-related curveballs seems to have worked in Cynthia’s favour. And the fact this is her first record to truly be billed as “Cynthia Nickschas & Friends” – the moniker she has played under for years – speaks volumes as to the creative energy that went into this record.
It definitely shows, 200%.
Cynthia’s acoustic-based, big band stage sound made a flawless transition to the studio for Is’ Halt So!, delivering her trademark jazz / blues / folk compositions with a live-off-the-floor warmth that a lot of records released in 2022 don’t have. Every instrument can be heard (saxophone, trumpet, violin, acoustic and electric guitars), everyone gets to shine even though Cynthia is the intended star of the show. The fact that many of these songs have been performed live for the last couple years (when that sort of thing was allowed) enabled Cynthia & Friends to arrange and refine them to the level we hear in recorded form.
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