Kari Tieger

Kari Tieger gets French & lovely in ‘Nos Mots’

In about 1995 or so, International Beans and Bags, formerly of the corner of East Street and Wickenden, hosted a singer-songwriter named Kari Tieger. I remember seeing the poster: a simple black and white Xerox not uncommon to those performers among us who predate the proliferation of advanced digital technology. I mention this because the publicity photograph used on that poster still appears in Kari Tieger’s promotional materials, even now, with the release of her most accomplished disc, “Nos Mots.” Some of the singers around here seem to spend at least as much time getting their picture taken as they do putting together songs. That’s not Kari Tieger, and the difference is in the music.

I hope this doesn’t turn you off of this record but there are no English lyrics on it. That certainly intimidated me a bit as a reviewer, but I’m assuming you are not as lazy. Nos Mots consists of eight shimmering vocal performances in the popular idiom, more or less, as well as a sonata, and a sonatina for violin and piano, all composed by Tieger.

The album’s title, whose English transliteration is “Our Words,” aptly describes the communal achievement on display: in addition to Tieger, Aline Duran, Catherine Rousseau, Ollie Brennan and someone called Zao [all] contributed lyrics to “Nos Mots.” The guitar player on this album is Paul Gabriel and his nylon string guitar is as bright as any I’ve ever heard, especially on the beautiful “Paysages du Monde” (Landscapes of the World).

A definite highlight of the CD is “Un Ange Chante” (An Angel Singing), lyric from a free verse poem by Catherine Rousseau. I could quote the whole thing. It’s reminiscent of “Nothing At All” by Allison Krauss:



“What is not said, not thought/

Is still there.”



Zao contributed what may be the disc’s finest lyric in “Papier Glace” (Frozen Paper):

O, my love in your lonely bedroom,

I offer you now, from my heart/

These few wounded words,

Stained with the ink of my tears.”


But it is Tieger’s album, and she is masterful on it. Her command of the ache and decay inherent in the French vocal tradition is complete, and her grasp of popular music forms is broad and fresh. Where she will blow you away, however, is on the classical compositions. The Sonatina for violin and piano is a discovery, flowing and hesitating with the expert timing of violinist Lauren Benowitz (Tieger is on piano). The Autumnal Sonata consists of allegretto, largo, vivace, andantino and presto. Audrey Kaiser does a nice job with the swaying piano part (Tieger is on the piano on the alternate take bonus track). This is easy music to appreciate: simple, visceral, grounded in the Western classical tradition.



The shame of this album is that it can be appreciated with very little or no French and barely rudimentary music theory; it’s that good, that genuine. But a little digging, a decent bi-lingual dictionary and a close listen reveals these splendid lyrics, candid turns of phrase, lilting turns on the violin. You don’t have to know all the ingredients to be sated, even thrilled, by a meal. That is proven by “Nos Mots.” But this is one case in which getting to know the kitchen a little bit will make you hungry all over again. - Motif Magazine

03/30/02 - The Providence Phoenix Music

Kari Tieger: En Francais sil te plait (Self-released)
Never judge a CD by its jacket, or so the saying goes. Kari Tieger's CD comes in with a stark, slightly haunting photograph of the artist with a black lace dress on and a rose in hand, her hair all a-curled. Beyond her blondeness, the photo looks almost gothic, something you might see over a fireplace in a Newport mansion. The music, however, is a different story. While it sounds as unique for this area as the photo is stark, En Francais sil te plait is an album full of French love songs. And, like the title says, it's in French, if you please.

www.providencephoenix.com/archive/music/02/04/04/LOCAL.html - The Providence Phoenix

From - The Providence Phoenix, December 18, 1998 ARTS Section
“Nightswimming” - column by Michael Caito

Excerpts from:

Burning Bright, Kari Tieger, Sidedoor Johnnies, and more

With the holiday falling on Friday, we’re out a day early next week, and here are a few last-minute additions for those stockings hung with care...

Kari Tieger: Touch of Magic (Tiger Sound 20-piece CD)
Mixing French and English, songs and spoken-word reflections, mature takes on relationship issues and a gothic trio of vampire tunes, Kari Tieger returns with a batch of compositions written over the past decade. Primarily a vocalist/keyboardist, Tieger enlists the support of numerous talented pals to pull together this sprawling release, most of which works very well. “Tell Me, Please” opens Magic with her best track, a no-nonsense examination of a long-term
relationship whose incisiveness smacks of a psychologist’s desire to cut through rationalization and its oft-confusing investing of emotion with the weight of reason. Add to this the innate prettiness of the tune and Tieger blasts out of the starting blocks. ... A rarity, as Tieger forces the listener into what in certain ways is an internal Socratic dialogue. Buoyed by the presence of intermittent strings (viola, violin, cello), some nifty, understated percussive work from Steve LaValley and an alternating rhythm section (bassist Mibbit Threats and drummer Dave Price in particular), Touch of Magic works best when Tieger doesn’t stump about proselytizing about love’s errant nature, but writes simply and without too much fancy adornment of the ways by which we comprehend what happened, is happening, or may happen. Things will go right and things will go wrong, she says, but without a fatalistic bent, dooms everything to the vagaries of fortune and ultimate [success or] failure. This is the case in the first and finest of three songs written and sung in French, the beautiful “Tu Demeures Dans mon Coeur.” While perhaps the only truly spectacular moment during this hour-long platter, image and emotion fall into place perfectly in this Valentine’s Day tribute to a loved one, essaying how mutual nourishment doesn’t lessen individuality but creates a vibrant, healthy tandem greater than the sum of its parts. You could even call this one timeless. - The Providence Phoenix

From - The Providence Journal, Monday, January 25, 1999
“Band Spotlight” Feature by Andy Smith

A reborn bug to perform brings out an eclectic sound
By ANDY SMITH, Journal Pop Music Writer

Who: Kari Tieger.

What she plays: She calls it “eclectic pop” with elements of classical music, New Age and jazz. Her album, Touch of Magic, includes poetry set to music, several songs in French and a suite of romantic songs about vampires that Tieger refers to as the soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist yet. One label Tieger says doesn’t fit her is folk: “People try to put me in that category, but to me, my music has very little in common with that.” Tieger used a lot of musicians on her album, but live she is mostly solo, although lately she’s been working with Ron Schmitt, drummer from Pendragon. History: A native of the Bronx, Tieger has been writing songs since she was a little girl, and studied voice at the State University of New York in Potsdam. After moving to Rhode Island, she continued to study voice with Maurice Lewis, but after his sudden death from a heart attack, she stayed away from music for about 10 years.
The bug hit her again in 1989, after she wrote a song and thought it would be fun to record it. She even sang in a rock band called Campbell Soup in the early ‘90s. Parlez-vous Français: Tieger speaks (and sings) fluent French, and she’s considering making an album in French, and possibly even touring France. “I have a very strong feeling I was French in a previous life,” she said.

Where to hear her: Tieger will play at Borders bookstore in Garden City on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. and at the Borders in North Attleboro on Feb. 28 at 3 p.m.

Or hear her now: Call Journal Line at 277-7777 or toll free outside the Providence calling area at (800) 992-9255 and enter BAND (2263). - The Providence Journal