Fantasy Woman by Jo Nelsen

"One day my brothers went away; it happened very slowly. They'd faded from my childhood heart. I tried to bring them back, but they were gone..." The story was featured in The Edmonton Journal newspaper along with a link for readers to hear the track.

A bonus feature to the CD booklet is a memoir jo writes about her growing up that definitely brings a tear to the eye, listeners say. It's illustrated and just may remind many of you of your own childhood and dreams that were laid way back then. Desire for family never goes away.

jo has sung many different styles. She was raised on music. As a kid she'd go to the piano if she was in trouble and pretend she was Julie Andrews. People actually commented recently at a performance at Pontevechio's in Seattle that her voice reminded them of a young Julie Andrews. (As a matter of fact she's often getting mistaken for celebrities. Just back from Los Angeles, people at a concert thought she was Debra Harry aka "Blondie" and asked her to autograph programs. And she's a dead ringer for Geena Davis.)

But jo just wants to be herself. Though she studied acting in Los Angeles, she dropped it preferring her own lines to those written by someone else. Fiercely independent but shy, jo has struggled to find her place in the world.

Earlier she's sung opera in Japan and Canada, sung for Community Concert Series throughout the northwest,and opened a Merritt Mountain Country Music Festival for 80,000. She's been a model, an English Teacher and even a Private Eye known as THE SINGING DETECTIVE!

As a matter of fact, it was on a long and lonely road trip as a Private Eye where she encountered the road sign "Moonbeam Creek." It was a song waiting to be written and she did it as a place in a dream "...Lonely traveler in the night, ghost along a road, wet with fog. I walked the darkest day and I lost my way, lost my way, long ago, wild and free...you'll find peace at Moonbeam Creek..."

jo is the proud mother of a daughter for whom she wrote the lullaby called "Ride the Moon", track 9 on the album.

The vocals float and jo plays piano herself on one track. The songs are rich and suggestive. A muted trumpet conjures up night scenes in big cities and looks at our awkward feelings about the homeless in "Blue Woman Passin'". It was a inspired by a homeless person jo used to see always at the off-ramp to her home, and jo wonders, "what does she carry in her bags. Is it tears or rags?"

"Velvet Afternoon" is a romantic song. "Velvet afternoon after winter rain. Sunshine's comin in, curtains wide.

Lacy in the light, memories flood my mind and I can float away, creamy white like old times...just like old times..."

Her formal studies were in classical voice and piano. But jo is au naturel now and FANTASY WOMAN presents ballads in a soft pop/New Age/ adult contemporary way. With elegance and taste jo sings of private moods and her hopes for a more compassionate world. She sings of love and loss but remains optimistic always.

"Bless the Children" jo's soft jazz arrangement of Brahms Lullaby, was inspired by a Bosnian war photo she saw in the newspaper. It was of a child asleep on rough pavement surrounded by armed soldiers and dirty messy graffitti on the walls asking for "no more war". She wrote the lyrics: "Lullaby and goodnight, may the world rest in peace. May the children lie safe. May the guns all lie still..." She is accompanied by the poet of the piano, Dave Press.

Her debut CD - FANTASY WOMAN - just released Jan. 2002 brings jo closer to becoming the woman of her dreams.

Presently jo is preparing to showcase the CD late summer 2002. In addition she's collaborating on music for an upcoming production of the Discovery Channel to follow up her appearance in a recent production.

And jo is so excited about a book of her poetry being published. It's called :"Transparencies, A Book of Words." (Check back for publishing date.)JO LOVES WORDS! **** RELEASE GETTING CLOSER..... EXPECTED SEPTEMBER 30TH, 20O2

"Two Smart Blonds," was her show incorporating her poetry with improvisational piano. She brought an acapella version of Amazing Grace to Vancouver Arts Club annual Aids Concert, and performed at the Commodore Club there. She has even been part of a group singing to whales off Orcas Island in 1999. It was with Fred West's dynamic Seattle Cantabile Choir and was an event written up in The New York Times.

Broadway roles have included the sexy flight attendant, April, in a Portland production of Sondheim's Company, and Fruma Sarah in Fiddler in Vancouver, BC.

Eventually jo nelsen concentrated on writing her own music-- her answer to personalizing all the styles of music she has encompassed. Her skills were admired and encouraged by her coach, Ellen Faull, who has been the vocal coach for such stars as Sarah Brightman and Dawn Upshaw.

Always on the lyrical side, jo has a tender romantic voice that floats effortlessly. HER ALBUM IS ONE TO SIT WITH AND LISTEN CLOSELY AS YOU WOULD LISTEN TO AN OLD FRIEND telling you a story. It is her fantasy come true - a fantasy she wants to share with you now. She sums it up in the song called "Believe"

"I BELIEVE IN PARADISE, HEAVEN IN MY HAND

AND I BELIEVE IF YOU BELIEVE,

YOU'LL SEE A MAGIC LAND!"

Personal message from jo:

Please e mail me. I would love to talk to you about the album. I love life! Love to write. I love to salsa dance. Love flowers. Love colors! I can't stand getting an electric plug the wrong way round and having to turn it to get it into the socket. I scream at every sticky label I have to peel off an apple before I can eat it. I love my cat. (His name is George.) And I would so love to have you hear my music and talk to me --make the fantasy real. Thank you. jo

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