Bright Lights and Promises: Redefining Janis Ian

SARAH PARTRIDGE's BRIGHT LIGHTS & PROMISES [Origin Records 82732] is subtitled Redefining Janis Ian. Ian made her mark early in her career as a teenager in the mid 1960s. By the mid-1970s she was on the map with her anthem "At Seventeen", a cutting commentary on the standards of beauty and adolescent cruelty (and this was pre-social media!). Recorded 8/18&19/16, the 13 Ian tunes [65:12] here are handled well by Partridge and cohorts [Allen Farnham-p, Bill Moring-b, Tim Horner-drm, Scott Robinson-flts/reeds, Ben Williams-tbn, Paul Meyers & Ben Stein -gtr] but with Ian it's the lyrics that compel one to listen. The title track was co-written by Ian and Partridge and on which Ian joins on vocal. It is a pithy ode from one partner to another—not exactly 50 ways to leave your lover but close enough. Other tunes here include "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child", which continue to have bite and unfortunately are still relevant 50+ years after they were written. Sarah Partridge has shown that this material can be handled as jazz or torch songs. Singers would do well to investigate this material.