Product Description "When one door closes, another opens" might seem little more than a comforting cliche, but don't try telling that to Elana James. Dealt an unwelcome surprise little more than two years ago, when the band she'd worked with for close to a decade suddenly dissolved, James was more pleasantly stunned just weeks later by an invitation to join Bob Dylan's band and what she learned in the course of touring with a legend set her on a new path whose first (but certainly not last) milestone is the release of her solo debut, "Elana James." Almost evenly divided between captivating originals and deftly chosen standards, "Elana James" is a portrait of an artist at the crossroads between where she's been and where she's headed. Whether she's singing or leading a swinging instrumental with her violin, James is confident and convincing•the legacy of years spent as a member of the acclaimed Hot Club of Cowtown. Digipak. Amazon.com As a featured instrumentalist (then known as Elana Fremerman) within the Hot Club of Cowtown, the violinist helped bridge the Parisian jazz of Django Reinhardt and the western swing of Bob Wills. When the Hot Club disbanded after touring with Bob Dylan, she served a stint in Dylan's band. On her solo debut, Elana James continues to impress as an instrumentalist, though her original material is pretty slight and her voice lacks range. Uptempo fare such as "Twenty-Four Hours a Day," "Oh, Baby," and "Run Away with Me" mainly serves as a springboard for sprightly instrumental interplay, with bassist Beau Sample and guitarist Dave Biller among those providing superb support, while Texas Playboy alum Johnny Gimble guests on a couple of other cuts. The stately "Eva's Waltz" instrumental and the Appalachian strains of "All the World and I," with doubled-tracked vocal harmonies, suggest that her songs are stronger when she slows things down, as does her rendition of Dylan's "One More Night." Covers of a couple Ellington tunes--"I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and "I Don't Mind"--are passably torchy, but the violin remains her most compelling voice. --Don McLeese Review "A beautiful voice, a fantastic musician, with the heart and soul of an angel." -- Willie Nelson From the Artist Coming soon. About the Artist Coming soon. See more