Reviews for Cara Luft

The rotating slot withing fol trio the Wailin' Jennys currently occupied by Heather Masse was previously held by founding member Cara Luft and later by Annabelle Chvostek. Both the Jennys have released solo album that more fully showcase the range of their talents than was possible in the more collective environment of the Jennys.

The roots music scene has its own rhythm and pace, one less frenetic than that of the mass-market world. In the roots realm, an album is allowed to find its legs and strengthen with the passage of weeks. Manitoban Cara Luft’s The Light Fantastic is one such recording.

The story is often told of children brought up in the arms of traditional music, honing their skills with family in one of many bastions of folk music in Canada. Be it the East Coast, West Coast, or somewhere between, many artists cut their teeth during summer festivals, in folk clubs and coffee shops, singing songs older than their grandparents.

Luft has blossomed since bailin' from the Wailin' Jennys Singer-songwriter tired of the 'high stress' connected to group's recording sessions. It takes a long look in the mirror and ample courage to walk away from a project with a skyward trajectory.

But the leap of faith Cara Luft took two years ago when she said goodbye to the Wailin' Jennys is not one she regrets.

Cara Luft finally follows up her 2000 solo debut, Tempting the Storm, with The Light Fantastic. Yes, it’s been a while between solo records but Luft hasn’t been idle in the interim. Co-founder of the Wailin’ Jennys, she recorded two albums with them since they began in 2002, including the Juno Award-winning 40 Days.

Cara Luft has always been a visionary. It was 1995, long before it become fashionable (and economically necessary) for musicians and artists to leave Calgary, when Luft moved to Vancouver and, eventually, Winnipeg. She’s been there almost nine years now in spite of the admitted fact that Winnipeg doesn’t possess either the geographical beauty of her hometown or her beloved bike paths.

Success does not always bring satisfaction, as Cara Luft knows well. During the Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter's three-year tenure with the Wailin' Jennys, she went from local-hero status to the cusp of international acclaim.

Cara Luft helped found The Wailin’ Jennys before leaving in 2004 to resume her solo career, which began and stalled with 2000’s Tempting The Storm. Well, she’s back now, and The Light Fantastic announces the fact with a big, impressive bang.

A refined guitarist and compelling vocalist, this Winnipegger masters the musical art form with ease and pleasure. Perhaps her lineage plays a part -- everyone from her mother to her great-grandfather (a vaudevillian tenor) has performed.

The second solo album from this Wailin’ Jennys co-founder, The Light Fantastic wisely shines a musical spotlight on the album’s two biggest strengths: Luft’s sweet voice and her songwriting prowess.

“I didn’t know I’d actually be playing,” says Cara Luft, on her surprise two-song interlude set between Peter Yarrow and the Compadres at this year’s Canmore Folk Festival. “I showed up, and I knew all the folks doing the stage managing because they’re all Calgary people. They said, ‘Hey! Wanna do a ‘tweener?’ and I said ‘OK!’ It was a nice surprise.”

WINNIPEG’S Cara Luft has had a bad case of wanderlust since the release of her CD The Light Fantastic, criss-crossing the country and heading overseas with James Keelaghan on a U.K. jaunt.

Perhaps we should have seen it coming. First, Cara Luft served notice with the progressive folk of the new millennium's Tempting the Storm. She then flexed her considerable chops as a Wailin' Jenny. But the storm couldn't be staved off for long, and, after quitting the Wailin' Jennys, it has finally arrived.

In 2004, just as the Wailin’ Jennys were hitting their stride and beginning to hit their stride and beginning to make their mark on the international folk circuit, Cara Luft, one of the founding members of the Winnipeg-based trio walked away from the group to return to her solo career as a singer songwriter.

It says right on the packaging of Cara Luft’s new album, The Light Fantastic, that she was one of the founding members of the Wailin’ Jennys. After winning a Juno with her former band, Luft left the ‘Jennys in late 2004 to jumpstart her own solo career.

With a family tree like Cara Luft's, it's no wonder she's a songwriter. The Winnipeg-based illuminated optimist comes from a long line of talented folk musicians; her parents performed professionally as a duo in Calgary during her childhood, her grandpa was a big-band guitarist and teacher, not to mention her great-grandfather, who was a renowned vaudevillian tenor.

The Light Fantastic is Luft’s follow-up to her 2000 debut (which earned a Prairie Music Award nomination for Outstanding Roots Recording), Tempting the Storm. The long wait for this second album is due to her taking time out to co-found supergroup the Wailin’ Jennys and win a Juno Award for their 40 Days album. As far as the Western Canadian folk scene goes, Luft is quite the star.

Founding Wailin' Jennys member Cara Luft has gone solo. The Winnipeg roots artist weaves a fine folk storm, mixing the traditional with complicated rhythms, intricate multi-instrument backing and confident, clear vocals.

Canadian folk music isn't normally the domain of rivalries, but it's easy to pick up a trace of self-satisfaction when hearing Cara Luft talk about her first solo album since leaving the highly acclaimed band the Wailin' Jennys.

While the Winnipeg native doesn't overtly bear a grudge, Luft doesn't hesitate to describe The Light Fantastic as the best thing she's ever done.

Eyebrows were raised in these parts a couple of years ago, when Luft left The Wailin' Jennys to renew her solo career. But those who know Cara are well aware that she's a lively and righteous spirit - so it's no real surprise that she lets loose on this album right from the opening track, There's a Train.

The Light Fantastic is one of the surprise albums of the year. The second solo disc from Cara Luft shows that the singer/songwriter was wise to leave her former band the Wailin' Jennys. Encompassing folk, country, rock and blues, the record features the moving epic "The Light" and the tough-talking "Give It Up."

-staff writer

I was talking to Cara Luft earlier this week as she was on Vancouver Island headed to Duncan to pick up her '70s era Martin acoustic being serviced before her show in Courtenay.
Luft is in the midst of a tour in these parts promoting her The Light Fantastic CD, her second solo release and the first since she exited the Wailin' Jennys three years ago, the harmony trio she co-founded in 2002.

‘In the midst of trials, there are blessings, you know?” As one of the founding members of roots darlings The Wailin’ Jennys, Cara Luft is familiar with that spectrum. Luft lived through the group’s swift ascension, over the course of two solid albums, from three pretty young ladies who sang and played sweetly together to what amounted to a taut cottage industry.

After some time away from her solo career to record and tour with
the Wailin’s Jennys, Luft returns with her long-awaited second full-
length. 54-40’s Neil Osborne takes over production and applies a
fresh coat of paint to Luft’s already charming musical base. The
Light Fantastic is rooted in the folk tradition but slathered in