Abandoned Garden

Abandoned Garden
Abandoned Garden
Studio album by Michael Franks
Released	1995
Genre	Smooth jazz; Vocal jazz;
Length	57:02
Warner Bros.
Producer	Matt Pierson; Gil Goldstein;
Michael Franks chronology

Abandoned Garden is an album by American vocalist

Warner Bros. Records, it was Franks' thirteenth studio album and his final album of new material with Warner Bros.^[1]

Background

The album is a dedication to the memory of Brazilian jazz musician, singer and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. Franks had drawn artistic inspiration throughout his career from Jobim, and had collaborated with him in the past.^[2]

"Somehow Our Love Survives" marked the return of keyboardist and lyricist Joe Sample, with whom Franks had collaborated on numerous albums, including Sleeping Gypsy in 1977 and Blue Pacific in 1990.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Franks, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"This Must Be Paradise"		6:10
2.	"Like Water, Like Wind"		5:19
3.	"A Fool's Errand"		4:35
4.	"Hourglass"		4:45
5.	"Cinema"	Franks, Antônio Carlos Jobim	4:52
6.	"Eighteen Aprils"		4:35
7.	"Somehow Our Love Survives"	Franks, Joe Sample	5:00
8.	"Without Your Love"		5:22
9.	"In the Yellow House"		5:21
10.	"Bird of Paradise"	Djavan, Franks, Max Frederico, Flávia Virgínia	5:39
11.	"Abandoned Garden"		5:24

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Down Beat	^[4]

Writing for AllMusic, Ross Boissoneau praised the input of "heavy hitters" but lamented it was "neither Franks' best effort nor particularly evocative of the great Brazilian composer" the album was dedicated to. He concluded "while the revolving door of stars has served Franks well on other recordings, here they don't seem to add up to much."^[3]

Down Beat magazine rated the album "good" in their March 1996 issue, reporting it to be "a genuine keeper, a guilty pleasure. Somehow Franks, a song stylist more than a jazz vocalist, once again gets his way, singing his indelible melodies that before you know it are under your skin, into your veins and etched into your soul..."^[4]

Personnel

Musicians

Michael Franks – vocals, guitar, banjo

Keith O'Quinn – trombone

Randy Brecker – flugelhorn
Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone
Joshua Redman – soprano saxophone
David Sanborn, Andy Snitzer – alto saxophone
Lawrence Feldman – alto flute
Bob Mintzer – flute, alto flute
Russell Ferrante, Gil Goldstein, Bob James, Carla Bley
– piano

John Leventhal – electric guitar
Chuck Loeb – guitar
Jeff Mironov – guitar, acoustic guitar
Diane Barere, Mark Orrin Shuman, Frederick Slotkin – cello
Manolo Badrena – woodwinds, percussion
Peter Erskine – drums, percussion
Chris Parker, Lewis Nash – drums
Don Alias, Bashiri Johnson – percussion
Brian Mitchell – vocals

Support

Russell Ferrante
– arrangement
James Farber – audio mixer
Ken Schles, Fredrick Nilsen – photography
Recording at Bearsville Studios, Clinton, Make Believe Ballroom, Power Station, Sound on Sound

References

^ "Discography in Order of Release". MichaelFranks.com. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
^ O'Toole, Kit (2008-03-26). "Michael Franks's Abandoned Garden An Eloquent Tribute to Jobim". Blogcritics Music. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
^
AllMusic
. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
^ ^a ^b "Michael Franks – Abandoned Garden CD". CDUniverse. Retrieved 2012-03-11.

Bibliography

Abandoned Garden (CD booklet).
Warner Bros. Records. 1995. pp. 1–5. 45998.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link
)

[1] "Discography in Order of Release". MichaelFranks.com. Retrieved 2012-02-11.

[2] O'Toole, Kit (2008-03-26). "Michael Franks's Abandoned Garden An Eloquent Tribute to Jobim". Blogcritics Music. Archived from the original on 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-03-09.

[allmusic-review-3] 
AllMusic
. Retrieved 2012-02-19.

[downbeat-review-4] "Michael Franks – Abandoned Garden CD". CDUniverse. Retrieved 2012-03-11.

[1]

[2]

[4]

[3]

v t e Michael Franks
Studio albums	Michael Franks (1973) The Art of Tea (1976) Sleeping Gypsy (1977) Burchfield Nines (1978) Tiger in the Rain (1979) One Bad Habit (1980) Objects of Desire (1982) Passionfruit (1983) Skin Dive (1985) The Camera Never Lies (1987) Blue Pacific (1990) Dragonfly Summer (1993) Abandoned Garden (1995) Barefoot on the Beach (1999) Watching the Snow (2003) Rendezvous in Rio (2006)
Independent albums	Time Together (2011) The Music in My Head (2018)
Live albums	Michael Franks with Crossfire Live (1980)
Compilations	Indispensable (1988) The Best of Michael Franks: A Backward Glance (1998) The Michael Franks Anthology: The Art of Love (2003) Love Songs (2004) Michael Franks: Original Album Series (2010) The Dream 1973-2011 (2012)
Notable producers	Tommy LiPuma (1976–78, 1980, 1990) Rob Mounsey (1983–87) Jeff Lorber (1990–93) Gil Goldstein (1993–95, 2011) Ben Sidran (1993)
Related articles	Smooth jazz list Vocal jazz list
Jazz Portal

v t e Antônio Carlos Jobim
Studio albums	The Composer of Desafinado Plays (1963) The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim (1965) A Certain Mr. Jobim (1967) Wave (1967) Tide (1970) Stone Flower (1970) Jobim (1973) Urubu (1976) Terra Brasilis (1980) Inédito (1995) Antônio Brasileiro (1995)
Live albums	Jazzvisions (1986)
Compilations	Sinatra–Jobim Sessions (1979) Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings (2010)
Soundtracks	Lost Highway (1997)
Collaborations	Getz/Gilberto (1963, Stan Getz) Jazz Samba Encore! (1963, Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfá) Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2 (1963, Stan Getz) Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim (1967, Frank Sinatra) Sinatra & Company (1971, Frank Sinatra) Elis & Tom (1974, Elis Regina) "Fly Me to the Moon" (1994, Frank Sinatra)
Compositions	"A felicidade" "Água de Beber" (Drinking Water) "Waters of March" "Chega de Saudade" (No More Blues) "Corcovado" (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) "Desafinado" "Dindi" "The Girl from Ipanema" "How Insensitive" "Inútil Paisagem" (If You Never Come to Me) "Meditation" "O Morro Não Tem Vez" (Favela) "One Note Samba" "Só Danço Samba" "Someone to Light Up My Life" "Triste "Wave"
As contributor	Elizete Cardoso ) Black Orpheus (1959, Luiz Bonfá) Chega de Saudade (1959, João Gilberto) Do the Bossa Nova with Herbie Mann, Latin Fever (1962, Herbie Mann) The Swinger from Rio (1965, Sérgio Mendes) Love, Strings and Jobim (1966, various) Abandoned Garden (1995, Michael Franks)