WHOLEHEARTED

Album Review

Back in the '70s, not everyone was shaking their booties to Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy's Rubber Band, banging their heads to Black Sabbath and Kiss, or moshing to the Ramones. There were also the introspective types — the people who craved folk-rock and soft rock and spent many hours savoring Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Janis Ian. Thankfully, many of the singer/songwriters who were influential during that era remained influential long after the '70s ended — and their work has had an impact on countless singer/songwriters who emerged in the '90s and 2000s. One of the singer/songwriters who has benefited considerably from the '70s without being stuck in the '70s is Beth Hirsch. The Florida native, who was only 12 when the '70s ended, owes a lot to '70s-era Mitchell, but '90s/2000s singer/songwriters like Sarah McLachlan and Beth Orton have also inspired her and have a positive influence on Wholehearted. Not that Hirsch is actually emulating Mitchell, McLachlan, Orton, or anyone else; reflective offerings such as "How Far You'll Go," "All Together," and "Love Will Come Again" underscore the fact that Hirsch is a talented singer/songwriter in her own right. Hirsch, who has incorporated jazz elements in the past, sometimes incorporates them on Wholehearted. That doesn't make this 2007 release jazz — this is an adult alternative/folk-rock album, not an Abbey Lincoln or Sheila Jordan album — but Hirsch, like Mitchell, obviously realizes that there is no reason why someone operating in folk, rock, or pop cannot be influenced by jazz in a healthy way. Hirsch turned 40 in 2007, and Wholehearted demonstrates that 2007 was also the year in which she offered some of her most memorable work.