Rating: NNN
Toronto singer/songwriter Ember Swift is a hard-working girl. She puts out records faster than EMI, and follows them up with dedicated touring, as this live set (see album title), recorded earlier this year, documents. A folkie of the Ani DiFranco school but with a much silkier, jazzier voice, Swift offers a breadth of tracks ranging from straight-ahead folk to more complex, downcast ballads that are juicy and evocative. Swift herself alternately pinpoints her sound as “pop-funk, jazz-latin, Mideast Asian folk” and “ethereal folk-jazz,” descriptions as good as any. The Wage Is The Stage gets a proper send-off along with a companion EP, Snapshots, Saturday (December 16) at Ted’s.
