Katy Moffatt Chrysalis (2-CD)

(Sunset Blvd) 33 tracks - gatefold gigisleeve

One of the Seminal Voices In The Alt-Country & Americana Movement This 2-CD Collection features the Best of Moffatt's '80s & '90s Recordings. Includes songs co-written with Tom Russell, Rosie Flores, Wendy Waldman, Steve Goodman and Chris Smither. Both in the studio and on-stage, Moffatt is a power to be reckoned with. Subtle and soft, she reaches out to her audience and takes them by the heart. As both an interpreter of the work of other songwriters as well as a marvelous voice for her own compositions, Moffatt sparkles.

This time around she covers Chris Smither's gigantic blues hit 'Love Me Like a Man' with aplomb and grace, while retaining all the baser animal instincts Smither so delicately wove into his song. Just as good is Cole Porter's 'Miss Otis Regrets,' an out-of-time tidbit that comes to life in an different time and place. Steve Goodman's 'I Just Keep Falling in Love' is brilliant. As for herself, Moffatt presents several wonderful tunes which she wrote with longtime friend Tom Russell, Rosie Flores, Wendy Waldman and her brother Hugh Moffatt.

 'Jigsaw Love Affair,' 'The Game,' and 'Mother of Pearl' are reflective of the high caliber of talent both Moffatt and Russell possess. On her own, Moffatt wrote 'Whistlin' In The Dark,' a lovely ballad about lost love. The production is simple and spare - proving that it doesn't take a lot to make good music burn brightly. Magnificent is the only word one can use to describe this steely yet Phoenix-like project. Moffatt never sounded better.