from Impact Magazine; December/January 1996, p. 6

no title or author

[photo of Siberry wearing satin blue top, lipstick, and Maria-album hair style with flowers in hair.]

Hot pink tube top, promiscuously applied lipstick, bright smile. Jane Siberry lights up the funky diner with ease. Her sunny mood reflects both personal contentment (a love affair that has seen her move to New York) and the pleasure she feels with her new album, Maria -- a delightful work that confirms Siberry as our most creatively adventurous chanteuse. She concedes that its breezily jazz-inflected feel is a reaction to its highly crafted predecessor, 1993's When I Was A Boy. "I had to do this fast or not at all," she says. "I'd been moving towards working with players I can improvise with, and these players could work that way. It opened up the way I write."

On Maria, Jane uses such young hotshots as drummer Brian Blade (Joshua Redman), pianist Tim Ray and bassist Christopher Thomas (Betty Carter), and they laid down all the tracks in three days. "I faxed the label -- 'In creative overdrive. Can't stop. Please send money,'" she says. "And they did!"

"I had to get my chops together in certain ways. I'm a much better singer now than even two years ago. That's also k.d. Lang's fault. Something went into my system when I sang [Boy's] 'Calling All Angels' with her. Just being around someone who understands singing the way she does, you pick up all sorts of things."

To those who have trouble following her musical explorations, Siberry offers little comfort. "Some people get angry I've changed, but you can't relate to that," she says. "Or the Internet. That's a seedy little affair, all these fans talking about you. I went in once to look up my name, and I've never been back. It was very uncomfortable!"