As a writer and music journalist and with every new turn I am excited and amazed about how much great & awesome music artists that are “out there”. The most recent find is a lady named Natalie Jean and she has Been nominated and won several awards in her music career and her sound is totally unbelievable. With her sending me a copy of her latest album called “Haiti Mwen Renmenw” and with her assistance she describes what each song is about. Natalie Jean has a superb and has mastered her vocals to the point where I was jaw dropped all the way through this wonderful and beautiful musical art, at it’s finest. I have read that Natalie Jean has won the 2017 Josie Award for World Artist of the Year, and far too many to mention, however with this being said the album has tremendous power & Natalie’s voice is an “Oh My Gosh” where has she been. This album is as I read more about Natalie Jean, is a tribute to her Haitian heritage and where her family comes from. Natalie from the start on this miraculous & incredible album a song called “Se Kanaval” which as I have Natalie’s side notes she wonderfully provided for me to understand the songs and what they are about. The album is defined as “Haitian Creole” and it’s tremendous sound. The song as I listened has Natalie’s ability to be so very expressive in her musicality and is has splendid vocal arrangements. With the next song explained, is written by her father, and is about a “local man who you see everyday,& that sells fish to the locals & is never really Happy, however the accept him for who he is” and the song is called “Smoking Ke Fan” and Natalie Jean pounds with her ever expressive vocal capacities makes this song sound so real & vivid and shows her ability to convey this through her tremendous gift of song. “An Selebre Papa Dambalah” is a song describes a spirit that Hatians celebrate, in which is pure and a wonderful spirit, and Natalie Jean brings in a sound of almost Caribbean in nature but has a beat of very tribal and her vocals are out of this world and reaches out & grabs your ears and gets them to pay attention to all that is being said. “Lape’ ” another song that is asking for peace for Haiti and Natalie shows and vocalizes this through her awesome vocal range and makes one really absorb & feel that power throughout this wonderful & delightful album. “Lan Nuit Nou Tounin Lougarou” what I’ve read is a song “to ward off evil spirts” and the song has a sound that really represents that sound that I would imagine tells a story and keeps the intensity burning through it, and Natalie Jean brings that with every song that she sings. The emotional side of this album is evident in every song on it and Natalie brings this consistently throughout this amazing and vibrant album. “Endepandans” is a song about Haiti how Haiti gained it’s independence and how they should reclaim it. With this song and as every song Natalie Jean has that ever so explosive voice that allows you to recognize her tremendous inflections of her feelings towards everything she sings about, and this song really has this. “Saut-D’eau” is a song described as a place in Haiti where, there is a great waterfall and place where everyone should see. With this description Natalie Jean showcases her abilities to paint the picture for you within her magical & expressive vocals and music writing, this song is a fine example of how Natalie uses this ability. The next song I personally didn’t care about reading what it was about, simply because it is a superb & beautiful song that I really didn’t want the meaning of “Marabou’ to taint my listening experience, and this song is a beautiful song & Natalie Jean is just unreal and what an amazing song, her vocals are perfect and it sounds like if I were in my “meadow” or in my special place or my quiet time, this song would be playing in my ears continually. The song is described as a song about” the beauty of the dark skinned woman, where she is intercultural”. “Haiti” the song is about Haiti and the food & the music and Natalie Jean once again brings her powerful vocals and I was utterly amazed and wow’d throughout this explosive but tender and descriptive music album. The last song on this amazing and so incredibly descriptive & heart warming album is called “L’amour A L’infni” and is described as a song about “Great Love” and what a totally descriptive title for what I have been as I listen to this wonderful album, this particular song Natalie sings in French and is superb and so very natural & a talent that needs to be heard. This song is a beautiful song and Natalie shows her sensitive and vulnerable side of her vocals and is a really beautiful way of ending one of the best music albums I’ve reviewed in a very long time. As I sit here and awe about this album and think of what to say, this album has huge potential and has that complete sound of Natalie Jean at her finest. I am not versed in Haitian language, however through the kindness of Natalie Jean describing the songs & their meanings and her gift of amazing musicality that defines the songs in every language. I thank Natalie Jean for her tremendous friendship and her amazing and gifted spirit of song and wiliness to share it with me. A superbly crafted and sung with total spirit & emotions reflect this on this wonderful & beautiful album called “Haiti Mwen Renmenw”
Steven F. Adams
Music Journalist Reviewer Publicist Owner SoundWaveOne
c 2018 used by permission
for more on Natalie
SOUNDWAVEONE 