Penny Larkins & Carl Pannuzzo – The Cradle

Penny Larkins and Carl Pannazzo – The Cradle
CD Review by John Williams

This is a terrific CD.
Penny and Carl have been singing together as a duo for some time and they have crafted a lovely listening experience on this CD.
They both have great voices and they complement each other to create a beautiful sound together.
Penny does vocals and Carl plays a number of instruments including, piano, ukulele, guitar, drums/percussion, accordion and double bass as well as vocals too.
Don’t you hate that sort of talent!
Mal Webb plays fretless bass on four tracks and Pete Fidler plays dobro steel on two.
The CD is a mixture of self-composed tracks (nine) and several songs by well-known singer/composers such as Eric Bogle, Joni Mitchell, Fred Smith, Sinead O’Connor and Simon Nield.
There are many fine tracks on the CD.
Simon Nield’s ‘The Cradle’ is just beautiful.
Sinead O’Connor’s ‘In This Heart’ was one of my favorites, the singing leaves you breathless.
I also enjoyed Fred Smith’s ‘Four Strong Hands’ and Eric Bogle would be pleased with the treatment given to his song, ‘Ibrahim’.
They should be compulsory listening for some of our politicians.
Both songs are given great treatment by Penny and Carl and you can feel the desperation in the lyrics and singing.
They were very powerful tracks indeed.
The many tracks composed by Penny and Carl are all worth a listen.
A couple of favourites were Penny’s ‘Be A Star’  and ‘Cry With Me’.
They both show Penny’s glorious voice to full effect.
Carl is not to be outdone with his lovely songs, ‘Sign Language’ , ‘The Painting’ and ‘The Climb’.
There are several other tracks by them both as well.
This is a well-crafted CD showcasing a talented duo.
I have no hesitation in recommending this CD highly.