Jean Mann: Seasons April 2004 By: Sara Zeno

The airy music and vocals of Jean Mann's Seasons offer a welcome simplicity in our world of continuous noise. Her songs live in a world inhabited by the constant and enchanting presence of the moon, sun, water and trees. Without interruption or flourishes, Mann's lilting (and sometimes haunting) voice muses over the undiluted structure of acoustic guitar.

The Dance, a waltz that invokes visions of the old world, opens the album. It includes the evocative sounds of mandolin and cello, performed by Beau Gordinier and Kim Blanchard, respectively. Their talents pepper Seasons with nostalgia-flavored sounds.

Mann's perspective distinctively colors her songs. Blue Trees, written in remembrance of a friend, allows spirit to shine through loss: I always know where you are / In mountain mist, a breeze on high carries you home / A drop in the river, in the vein of the earth / Ever flowing on. And all is at peace in your world.

In The World, which Mann refers to as her "love note to the world," gently nudges, It's always easier for me when the sun shines bright / And the sparkles lay across the water / Hey, I figure if they can dance so, just think what I can do with the day.

Seasons jingles and meanders with possibility: Spring springs ahead, and still the snow is falling down on my head / But wait a minute, that's pink petals scattered on the ground / Outside, the season of love abounds. In lieu of silence, Mann's music exudes a quiet peace. Seasons is as soothing as a forest stream.

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