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Fly Away
Lisa Hugo Rebecca Cullen Musician & writer with an MA in Songwriting. :http://stereostickman.com/author/stereostickman/ Review Losing somebody you love is one of the hardest things we have to go through in life. To express those feelings in music or to deal with the struggle by making music or art is one of the most beautiful ways we can keep their memory alive and dedicate something new and lasting to them. Lisa Hugo’s single Fly Away – In The Arms Of An Angel, is a direct and wonderful tribute to her late father, and the emotion and creative effort that has gone into it is wonderful. For what emerges as a gentle piano ballad, led by a stunning performance of the instrument, surrounded and supported by a simple string section to warm up the outer edges, the song evolves into something mighty and striking. The music builds in the way that classical pop songs build, the sort that make the final few moments of any epic or love themed movie. In this case though, it represents much more than that – an ode to a life well lived, well loved, and deeply treasured. It’s emotional to witness the rising energy of the music, and then there’s Lisa Hugo’s leading voice – gradually increasing in passion and intensity as the scene moves by. It’s a beautiful voice, soft and delicate at first, almost whispered, later bursting into life as this powerful and captivating performance that meets the weight and drama of the music flawlessly. The final element involved in this piece of musical artistry is the lyrics, and you really have to appreciate the detail, the story telling, and the smooth and genuine movement from the past to the now within a less than five minute space. From the light hearted memories of the opening verse, to the intensity and struggle of the later years, the pain, and then on to the peace, the reminiscing again of his strength, his positive influence. The arrangement of these lyrics work in unison with the development of the music and showcase sublime songwriting abilities and structural awareness. Considering that this is an incredibly personal song, it actually transcends the specific identity of its maker in some ways, becoming accessible to all – a gift for perhaps anyone who has been through the same. The final few moments are huge, the joy and optimism returns in full force, and that finishing line makes for a perfectly fitting end to the whole piece – Fly Away… You can go now, I’m OK. Download the music via iTunes. Find & follow Lisa Hugo on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud & Instagram. Visit her Website for more information. It's Time
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PERSONAL COMMENTS ABOUT LISA's MUSICMany Sincere Thanks for the CD" It's Time " that you sent us recently. BRILLIANT - EXCELLENT We have enjoyed it immensly, and have added tracks from it to our playlists. Your presentation of music, inside the style and personality reflected in the tracks is very refreshing. Keep it up.
Graham Barclay - Soundwave FM, NZ I was very impressed with Lisa Hugo’s new CD “ It’s Time”– it immediately made me smile. It has a lovely warm sound with a classic feel and represents very good songwriting. Melodic and dreamy with good vocals that are distinctive and the piano is like a more uplifting dreamy Carpenters. Matchbox Recordings, UK.
I love your lyrics and your singing. Very deep, touching, moving, soulful and inspirational, sung with so much passion.
Myspace fan Love her voice, good melody, clean contemp. jazz style...keep it coming.
Jango Fan “Hi Lisa, Wonderful work on this disc full of quality music. Without taking anything away from the originals The Letter is a brilliant version that commands attention. Well done and cheers” - Country Club Productions, Australia
“I am enjoying listening to your music and it's hard to choose 2 tracks to feature on my program over the coming weeks. However I've chosen: With you I can be me & Oh my baby. I also like Lovin' You and your version of The Letter” - City Park Radio 103.7FM
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Review Summary:
Lisa Hugo's third album, It's Time, presents upbeat tunes and thoughtful songs that uphold love and foster inner discovery. It is most definitely an album for the twenty-first century that will find appeal across gender, geography, and musical genre. Lisa's voice delivers every nuance and the members of her band make sure what she says is underlined but not overshadowed by the power of their own talent.
Review
Lisa Hugo's third album, It's Time, brings this Australian native's lively voice to a wider international audience. Lisa began her musical career at age eight, playing piano in her first solo performance that was heard by 400 people. That's a remarkable feat for even a seasoned artist trying to bring their music to listeners.
Though she could have turned to classical piano, Lisa discovered that she had a voice that audiences perhaps enjoyed more than her playing and so was trained at the Australian College of Entertainers, where her three octave range was cultivated. This launched her into television, theater, and film, and made her a draw at high-end hotels in her country. In 1994, she headlined her own show on cruise ships and then recorded her first CD of her own songs called, Don't Let Go, a year later.
During the latter half of the 1990s, Lisa played 5-star hotels in the grand cities of Europe and Istanbul Turkey. When she settled in Hamburg, Germany, she recorded her second album, Natural, and played regularly in her solo act as well as with a band she formed called the Urban Pop Ensemble. In 2004, Lisa moved to Belgium where she taught voice and gigged with a new band called Lushlive. Janos Bruneel (bass), Pieter Vandergooten (drums), and Dirk van der Linde (guitar and Hammond organ) offered the instrumental support she wanted that complemented Lisa's piano work and her voice. They provide the restrained backdrop for Lisa's new album, It's Time, which was recorded in Belgium. Today, Lisa is based in Dubai, UAE, where she is writing new music and coaching young voices, as well as gigging in the region and back in Europe.
It's Time is an 11-song album, composed of Lisa's songs and three covers. Her rendering of the Stevie Wonder tune, “Blame It on the Sun,” is delicious. Her voice against her piano touches and Dirk's contemplative acoustic guitar is exquisite. She also turns the rocking Joe Cocker's hit, “The Letter,” into a torch song. The band's backup is tight and hits more of a jazz note. It's tasty. But it is the Eva Cassidy tune “Time Is a Healer” that shows Lisa's range in style. Here she takes on the soul singer style and does it with a grace that even Aretha Franklin would smile at.
Hearing only those songs, some critics might just write off Lisa Hugo as a great technician of other people's music. Though she adds her own touches to these tunes, it is certainly her own songs that show Lisa's true talent. She writes of relationships and inner discovery that anyone, man or woman, could understand. Her initial track, “With You I Can Be Me,” sets a tone of freedom in a relationship—and perhaps an attitude about life—that pervades the entire album. And it isn't just about her. Lisa's song, “Lovin' You," is about clearly about the object of her love having freedom and the intensity of her love. She continues that unconditional love in “Oh, My Baby” and “I'm Gonna Miss You.” These songs could be about a lover or a child. That's clearly the case in “Butterfly,” which echoes an intense parental love while underlining the need for freedom to grow and become. “Find Myself,” like the initial track, echoes the power of a relationship to foster growth and change.
Lisa puts another spin on this quest for freedom and personal growth in “Please Try to Understand.” It's a poignant plea for understanding between two people when one grows faster than the other. It is a tender song with just bass and cymbals in back of Lisa's lovely voice.
The album closes with “Strong at Heart,” an encouraging story about perseverance.
It's Time presents upbeat tunes and thoughtful songs that uphold love and foster personal growth and discovery. It is most definitely an album for the twenty-first century that speaks to lovers and parents and women, in particular, though the songs will find appeal across gender, geography, and musical genre. Lisa's voice delivers every nuance and the members of her band make sure what she has to say is underlined but not overshadowed by the power of their own talent.
Lisa Hugo's third album, It's Time, presents upbeat tunes and thoughtful songs that uphold love and foster inner discovery. It is most definitely an album for the twenty-first century that will find appeal across gender, geography, and musical genre. Lisa's voice delivers every nuance and the members of her band make sure what she says is underlined but not overshadowed by the power of their own talent.
Review
Lisa Hugo's third album, It's Time, brings this Australian native's lively voice to a wider international audience. Lisa began her musical career at age eight, playing piano in her first solo performance that was heard by 400 people. That's a remarkable feat for even a seasoned artist trying to bring their music to listeners.
Though she could have turned to classical piano, Lisa discovered that she had a voice that audiences perhaps enjoyed more than her playing and so was trained at the Australian College of Entertainers, where her three octave range was cultivated. This launched her into television, theater, and film, and made her a draw at high-end hotels in her country. In 1994, she headlined her own show on cruise ships and then recorded her first CD of her own songs called, Don't Let Go, a year later.
During the latter half of the 1990s, Lisa played 5-star hotels in the grand cities of Europe and Istanbul Turkey. When she settled in Hamburg, Germany, she recorded her second album, Natural, and played regularly in her solo act as well as with a band she formed called the Urban Pop Ensemble. In 2004, Lisa moved to Belgium where she taught voice and gigged with a new band called Lushlive. Janos Bruneel (bass), Pieter Vandergooten (drums), and Dirk van der Linde (guitar and Hammond organ) offered the instrumental support she wanted that complemented Lisa's piano work and her voice. They provide the restrained backdrop for Lisa's new album, It's Time, which was recorded in Belgium. Today, Lisa is based in Dubai, UAE, where she is writing new music and coaching young voices, as well as gigging in the region and back in Europe.
It's Time is an 11-song album, composed of Lisa's songs and three covers. Her rendering of the Stevie Wonder tune, “Blame It on the Sun,” is delicious. Her voice against her piano touches and Dirk's contemplative acoustic guitar is exquisite. She also turns the rocking Joe Cocker's hit, “The Letter,” into a torch song. The band's backup is tight and hits more of a jazz note. It's tasty. But it is the Eva Cassidy tune “Time Is a Healer” that shows Lisa's range in style. Here she takes on the soul singer style and does it with a grace that even Aretha Franklin would smile at.
Hearing only those songs, some critics might just write off Lisa Hugo as a great technician of other people's music. Though she adds her own touches to these tunes, it is certainly her own songs that show Lisa's true talent. She writes of relationships and inner discovery that anyone, man or woman, could understand. Her initial track, “With You I Can Be Me,” sets a tone of freedom in a relationship—and perhaps an attitude about life—that pervades the entire album. And it isn't just about her. Lisa's song, “Lovin' You," is about clearly about the object of her love having freedom and the intensity of her love. She continues that unconditional love in “Oh, My Baby” and “I'm Gonna Miss You.” These songs could be about a lover or a child. That's clearly the case in “Butterfly,” which echoes an intense parental love while underlining the need for freedom to grow and become. “Find Myself,” like the initial track, echoes the power of a relationship to foster growth and change.
Lisa puts another spin on this quest for freedom and personal growth in “Please Try to Understand.” It's a poignant plea for understanding between two people when one grows faster than the other. It is a tender song with just bass and cymbals in back of Lisa's lovely voice.
The album closes with “Strong at Heart,” an encouraging story about perseverance.
It's Time presents upbeat tunes and thoughtful songs that uphold love and foster personal growth and discovery. It is most definitely an album for the twenty-first century that speaks to lovers and parents and women, in particular, though the songs will find appeal across gender, geography, and musical genre. Lisa's voice delivers every nuance and the members of her band make sure what she has to say is underlined but not overshadowed by the power of their own talent.
Reviewer: Rice B. and the RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team
RadioIndy is pleased to present Lisa Hugo with a GrIndie Award for the CD "It's Time "
In the tradition of such venerable performers as Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, Lisa Hugo straddles the boundaries of jazz and pop with equal ease and finesse on her fine new CD, “It’s Time.” With her supple, three octave vocal range and the instincts of a seasoned vet, the Australian born and world-traveled, pianist and singer/songwriter simply delights on this 11-song collection of pop, jazz, and easy listening songs. Backed by a small combo with exemplary taste and feel, Hugo’s piano sets the tone on jazzier numbers like the CD opener, “With You I Can Be Me” and “Oh My Baby,” while the subdued, “Please Try to Understand,” finds Hugo delivering an emotion-laden confessional with only the leanest of guitar, bass, and sprinkling of cymbals. Although very comfortable and adept with the jazz-pop style, the real highlight of the set is “Butterfly,” a wonderfully melodic pop tune as engaging as it is uplifting. Lisa Hugo’s bio is one filled with musical accomplishment all across the globe, but her new CD stands on its own merits. Fans of adult-oriented, tuneful jazz-pop will thoroughly enjoy the perfect blend of polished and sophisticated easy listening music on “It’s Time.”
RadioIndy is pleased to present Lisa Hugo with a GrIndie Award for the CD "It's Time "
In the tradition of such venerable performers as Karen Carpenter and Eva Cassidy, Lisa Hugo straddles the boundaries of jazz and pop with equal ease and finesse on her fine new CD, “It’s Time.” With her supple, three octave vocal range and the instincts of a seasoned vet, the Australian born and world-traveled, pianist and singer/songwriter simply delights on this 11-song collection of pop, jazz, and easy listening songs. Backed by a small combo with exemplary taste and feel, Hugo’s piano sets the tone on jazzier numbers like the CD opener, “With You I Can Be Me” and “Oh My Baby,” while the subdued, “Please Try to Understand,” finds Hugo delivering an emotion-laden confessional with only the leanest of guitar, bass, and sprinkling of cymbals. Although very comfortable and adept with the jazz-pop style, the real highlight of the set is “Butterfly,” a wonderfully melodic pop tune as engaging as it is uplifting. Lisa Hugo’s bio is one filled with musical accomplishment all across the globe, but her new CD stands on its own merits. Fans of adult-oriented, tuneful jazz-pop will thoroughly enjoy the perfect blend of polished and sophisticated easy listening music on “It’s Time.”