Jane Yolen & 3 Ravens
“…my line drawn ‘tween me and the infinite dark…”- Feral (Yolen/Collins)
THE INFINITE DARK travels the lands of fairy tale with one of the genre’s masters, Jane Yolen. Called “America’s Hans Christian Andersen,” Yolen holds two Nebula Awards and was named the 2017 Grand Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
The 3 Ravens band (Philo/Green Linnet artist Lui Collins, guitarist Max Cohen & fiddler Donna Hébert) brings Jane’s otherworldly poetry – from Selchie songs to Grimms’ Fairy Tales – to life in a collection of readings, songs, and instrumentals.
Lui has been setting Jane’s poems to music since the moment she first read Jane’s “Ballad of the White Seal Maid” in 1984 (previously recorded on There’s a Light). This album contains a new version of that song and “Mermaid’s Lullaby” (Moondancer) plus 3 new songs she created from Jane’s poems specifically for this project. In addition to two other Yolen poems that Donna and Max set respectively, The Infinite Dark includes two of Max’s originals plus a number of Scots and Irish tunes and a traditional Irish air sung in Gaelic by Donna’s daughter Molly.
“Just gorgeous!” – Wanda Adams Fischer, WAMC – NPR, Albany, NY
Musicians:
Jane Yolen – reader
Max Cohen – vocals, guitars, percussion
Lui Collins – vocals, piano, ukulele, banjo
Donna Hébert – vocals, strings, reader
With:
Molly Hébert-Wilson – vocals, reader
Sarah Bauhan – whistle
Track list:
- Doorway (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Story (Yolen/Hébert) – Donna: vocal; Lui/Molly: harmony vocals
- Hero’s Thumb • Prince Ever After (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Ballad of the White Seal Maid (Yolen/Collins) – Lui: vocal
- Great Selkie (Yolen) – Molly reads; Max: guitar
- Ode to Brighid (trad. Irish air) – Molly: vocal; Max: guitar • Fisherman’s Song for Calling the Seals (trad. Orkney jig) – Donna: fiddle; Max: guitar; Sarah: whistle
- The Selchie’s Children’s Plaint • The Last Selchie Child (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Pennan Den (trad. Scots air, James Watt) – Donna: fiddle • Come To Me, My Darling (Yolen/Cohen) – Max: vocal, guitars
- Mermaid’s Lullaby (Yolen/Collins) – Lui: vocal, piano; Donna: strings
- The Mermaid (trad. Irish air) – Max: guitars; Donna: fiddle; Lui: piano
- Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary • Swan/Princess (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Feral (Yolen/Collins) – Lui: vocal, piano; Donna: strings
- In the Hood, Noir (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Once Upon (Yolen) – Donna reads, Molly/Lui: hand-claps
- Things That Should Never Be Known (Cohen) – Max: vocal, guitars, percussion
- Gretel Asks • Her Cousin’s House of Candy (Yolen) – Jane reads; Max: guitar
- Bouquet (Yolen/Collins) – Lui: vocal, banjo; Molly: harmony vocal; Donna: strings, Max: guitar
- The Hunter and the Maiden (Cohen) – Max: vocal, guitars, percussion; Lui/Donna: harmony vocals
- Another Way to Tell (Yolen/Collins) • Morning Song (Cohen) – Max: vocal, guitars; Lui: tenor ukulele; Jane reads
All guitar accompaniments composed by Max Cohen.
Engineered and mastered by Max Cohen
with additional engineering by Rusty Annis at Shoestring Studios, Belchertown, MA.
Paul Shoul, photography; Donna Hébert, design.
For secondary use for all Jane Yolen poems and lyrics, contact:
Elizabeth Harding at Curtis Brown Ltd,
More about the band and The Infinite Dark project at the3Ravens.com