TRACK LISTING
1. 'Tis Autumn
2. Bali Holiday
3. Passion Of A Lonely Heart
4. Spain (I Remember)
5. Earth's Heart Beats
6. Night Blooming Jasmine
7. Sodade
8. Secrets Are Safe With Me
9. My Latin Love
10. My Baby Just Cares For Me
11. Here With You
RELEASE INFORMATION
Throughout ten action-packed years of building Motéma – which now boasts three Grammy nominations and a catalog of close to 100 CDs by over 40 critically acclaimed artists – Herzen has been a devoted label leader, but she also never lost sight of her own artistry. She continued to perform, write and record, and is happy at last to share some of the fruits of her labors on Passion of a Lonely Heart, a quiet duo project she recorded ‘live in the studio,’ with esteemed bassist (and Motéma label mate) Charnett Moffett, whose stellar resume includes work with McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis and Ornette Coleman, as well as vocalists Harry Connick, Jr., Anita Baker and, recently, Melody Gardot.
“Jana’s a fabulous songwriter who has great compositions with interesting structures,” says Moffett, who met Herzen one night after performing with Stanley Jordan at the Iridium jazz club in New York City. “Learning Jana’s music forced me play in a different style and concept that was unusual for me to experience.”
Though she plays mainly jazz on Passion of a Lonely Heart, Herzen’s influences range from Maria Muldaur, Leonard Cohen and Bob Marley to Miles Davis, Joe Pass and Leonard Bernstein and beyond. Much like the label that she runs, she has a penchant for crossing genres. “There aren’t that many singer-songwriter-guitarists in the jazz idiom,” she comments, “but there are some great examples – such as John Pizzarelli, George Benson or Raul Midon. “ Herzen humbly declines comparison with those master guitarists in regards to her instrumental chops, but her musicality and deep understanding of the jazz idiom are as apparent in this recording as they are in her artistic direction of Motéma.