Ruby Fradkin hit the track running in 2002 with her debut, "Warmin' Up with Ragtime Ruby Fradkin" (recorded when she was 11). That charming collection of standards and originals buoyantly reflected her pre-teen positivity: the stride duets with a tub [+]Ruby Fradkin hit the track running in 2002 with her debut, "Warmin' Up with Ragtime Ruby Fradkin" (recorded when she was 11). That charming collection of standards and originals buoyantly reflected her pre-teen positivity: the stride duets with a tuba-playing Freebo, the catchy boogie-woogies, and the tender readings of Americana went well-beyond her years. The disc endeared her to the critics overnight.
But as with all of us (with Peter Pan excepted) there looms the inevitability of growing older. Ruby Fradkin (formerly Ragtime Ruby) now addresses that issue in-the-year 2004 with her sophomore effort: the ambient song suite entitled "Circle of Dreams," recorded when she was 13-years of age.
"I was listening to a lot of Vince Guaraldi and Ray Charles at the time," the young musician says, "and mood-wise I needed to expand..."
And expand she does. Originally conceived as a sampling of "upbeat" and "introspective" pieces, Fradkin sways the boat to the ambient side of the lake to deliver a singular collection of mature piano/soul, which all but discards the "peppy" stylings of her earlier debut.
Of note is Fradkin's arrangement of J.S. Bach's "Polonaise (in G minor)," performed as a chamber ensemble with piano augmented by church organ, harpsichord and oboe.
"I'd been playing the Polonaise for a while," Fradkin says, "when my producer [Tracy Bartelle] suggested that I get away from the straight groove I'd been playing and try to 'swing the Bach.' I looked at her like she was nuts, but when I tried it, the darn thing came alive!"
And come alive it does. And the Polonaise fits perfectly with its 12 companion pieces (originals and classics) to create a sum much-greater than its parts. While listening to "Circle of Dreams," I was alternately lulled, rocked, and jarred by the intensity of emotions; and in that captive state, completely unaware that the creator of this soundscape was a mere 13-years of age.
--F.C. Witherspoon
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WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT RUBY FRADKIN. . .
"A young child with an old spirit."
Los Angeles Daily News
"A child prodigy...a talent to be reckoned with..."
Jack Rummel, KGNU-FM, Boulder, CO
"Her songs express a musical sensibility far b
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