Cari Burdett’s debut album, Magnolia, is the culmination of a talent in full bloom, drawing strength from Burdett’s experience as a singer, grand dame of stage performance and her life journey. The album presents a luxurious collection of rearranged classics and original songs, ranging from opera jazz and folk; sung in a range of languages. 

Produced by Grammy & Juno Award Winner, Joby Baker, Magnolia features songs from genres as diverse as jazz, world, folk, classical and opera. Cari’s band of all-star musicians includes guitarist Marc Atkinson, Quinn Bachand (Guitar/Saga Django Fest Award Winner), Miles Black (piano/Juno Award), Sean Drabitt (bass), Adrian Dolan (multi instrumentalist/Juno Award,) Richard Moody (violin/Juno Award) and Joby Baker (percussion).

Magnolia features original Canadian compositions by Anne Schaefer (Favorite Jazz Artist, M Awards), Anna Hostman (K.M. Hunter Music Award) and Timothy Francis, who tailored songs for Burdett.

The album opens with “Quante Stelle”, sung in Italian, about a woman who tends her unrequited love.

Burdett’s love of cabaret is evident in new arrangements of Edith Piaf’s “Le Vie en Rose”, Kurt Weill’s “Je Ne T’aime Pas”, Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” and the words of poet E.D. Blodgett, set to melody.

“Cari is a house on fire … big, hot, passionate, hungry, and beautiful,” says Canadian composer Anne Schaefer, whose song ‘Loveliness’ is about falling back in love with your partner of many years. “She will eat you up and leave you breathless.”