Traces Of is New York City singer/songwriter Linda Draper's sixth CD. At only four tracks, it's just enough to whet one's appetite, serving as an introduction to Draper for those, like me, who are not familiar with her previous work.

Simple, unadorned folk-style arrangements showcase Draper's voice, which is sometimes breathy and little-girlish, sometimes delicate and pure. Instrumentation is limited mainly to guitar, with some percussion and delicate piano (on "Traces Of"), except on "Flower Lady" (alternate version), which is ornamented with flute, violin, trumpet and xylophone.

Two of the tunes, "Traces Of" and "Big Blue Sky" (alternate version) are of Draper's own composing. "Flower Lady" (alternate version) was written by Phil Ochs and appears on both Draper's Patchwork and as her contribution to Poison Ochs: A Tribute to Phil Ochs. "The Lottery Song," sung here with Briah Wurschum, was written by Harry Nilsson.

My only complaint about this CD is that it's just too darned short! I will be looking forward to hearing more from Linda Draper.

by Laurie Thayer
Rambles.NET
10 March 2007

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