Solace of the Eyes

Critic Reviews

    Some things were just meant to be. Tadia's impressionistic 13-track CD, Solace of the Eyes, is vocal storytelling and virtuoso musicianship at its finest. Adapting and illuminating the classical poetry of Tahirih... Tadia fuses melody with message in this millennial masterwork. It is tricky business adapting metered language to the rhyme and cadence of music. Tadia's voice skips across musical genres -jazz, opera, pop, the spoken word- like a stone skipping across wistful waters.
     Solace of the Eyes elevates partnership, performance art with music, songstress with poetess, and framed within a spiritual aesthetic, 150 years apart. The collaboration is magical, mystical, and mythical. Co-produced by Tadia and Ellis Hall, Solace of the Eyes features songs from Tadia's original cast recording entitled A WOMAN AND HER WORDS, The Story of Tahirih. The drama portrays Tahirih as the 19th century mystic poet referred to as "Joan of Arc of the Eastern World.
    As poetry, Tahirih's words are a literary genre furthered in Tadia's theatrical narrative, eloquently combining the art of language and the art of narrative. But it is the songs in Solace of the Eyes that listeners will be drawn in by. Using three artistic viewpoints -lyric, narrative, dramatic- Tadia takes the listener inside the character of Tahirih. We become her. In this signification, the poems become universal, her songs triumphant; Tahirih tells us a good story, includes herself, and Tadia sings the story of Tahirih as a historical persona, a complex woman, intellectual, artist, and human rights advocate. Tahirih's universal appeal reflects what she wants for herself as synchronous as what she wants for humanity. In sacrificing her life, Tahirih's life transcends religious zeal in that her poems are love songs to God rather than to man.
    Vocally, Tadia carries listeners into another dimension of space and time, echoing one another as if Tahirih's poetry had been sprung in time and captured by Tadia's voice in the twenty-first century. This spiritual partnership is rare, timely, and inspiring, an elegy between spirits. The protagonist, Tahirih triumphs, at last, in the life-giving art of Tadia's lyrical ear.
    Music lovers will beg more from the songstress. Tadia is a twenty-first century Scheherezade vocally beguiling listeners with the enchantments of her "thousand-and-one-nights" rendition of one of the most compelling women of the nineteenth century. A century lay in wait for such tracks as "The One You Love Is Here" and "When the Day Comes" which, apart from romanticization, is about the life of a woman who was a learned scholar...
    Solace of the Eyes is sonically-driven and culturally derivative, the seed-bed for tracks such as "Road To Nowhere". Spoken word or spiritual rap in character, this track is a tribute to Tahirih's defiant luster evoked against a background of caravanesque ambiance, Ellis Hall's "Shambala" background vocals, drums, and Tadia's haunting ululating.
    A class act not to be missed, Solace of the Eyes will take you back in time, then forward again in "Rise Up and Sing", harmonic signifying with modern stylistic punches which enlarge the social commentary of Tahirih's humanitarian message of the equality of men and women as a living ideal. In modern parlance Tahirih was a self-actualized person whose poetry clarifies the status of women and the relation between ideals and action. The Solace of the Eyes track -"The Sun Has Risen"- opens with a Spanish guitar guided, as in all the tracks, with Tadia's multi-octave vocals. The emotion tenor of her voice parallels the historical backdrop...
    Solace of the Eyes is trans-century collaboration shattering the silence on the life on a amazing woman by a virtuoso song stylist.
                Robin M. Chandler, World Order Magazine

Customer comments & Amazon.com Five Star Customer Reviews

Solace of the Eyes is music for the soul. This CD is beautiful! Tadia's vocal ability is impressive - with tone and pitch as perfect as you can get. Tadia's voice is smooth as a violin and strong enough to reach the depths of your soul. This is feel-good music for anyone. 
            Amon Bourne, singer/actor, Los Angeles, California

Solace of the Eyes is a solace to the soul. It is truly captivating, enchanting, and downright soul-stirring! I've listened to it many times over and am becoming increasingly inspired and intrigued by the poetic life and humanist visions of Tahirih (I'm compelled now to read up on this Persian poetess). Tadia's voice is amazingly versatile and truly gold-spun, her tracks beautifully and elegantly composed and performed. It's a powerful and extraordinary artistic tribute to the spirit of an amazing woman, certainly advanced for the times in which she lived.
            Jesse Fish, student, Seattle, Washington

Solace of the Eyes is a retreat for the ears. This is not a run of the mill CD! Tadia's voice brings depth and richness to an eclectic mix of music. She is equally adept at jazzy, bluesy selections as well as pop and ethnic folk. A treat for world music listeners.
            Sharon L. Barnes, Visual Artist, Los Angeles, California

Solace of the Eyes soft jazz and beautifully sung vocals fit any occasion. For anyone who's never heard her, Tadia's voice is like a gift from God. It's like the voice of an angel who sweeps her vocal hand across your forehead and soothes you. Her voice can't be compared to anyone else, she has a unique sound and style, and every note is heavenly. Solace of the Eyes is also a solace to the heart! 
            Vic Natkin, Los Angeles, California

An excellent CD! Solace of the Eyes was very lyrical, warm and expressive. Tadia's voice, sensibilities and nuances of the lyrics and phrasing, and the variation of her vibrato, reminded me of an expressive jazz saxophone player interpreting a Duke Ellington or Billy Strayhorn ballad. I greatly appreciate the creative imagination of the music composers, Ellis Hall and M. S. Rice, in rendering unique musical settings for each of the poems used to create each song. The tendency for composers to write settings that imitate traditional musical environments was avoided, yet intimated in subtle and effective ways. This created an overall impression of integrity without resorting to direct imitation. In my opinion, this is excellent writing, again reflective of the genius of Ellington and Strayhorn. I endorse Solace of the Eyes as an excellent CD creating a greater recognition of and for the distinguished artistry of Tadia. 
            Marvin "Doc" Holladay, Jazz Baritone Saxophonist 

Tadia, Wow! Solace of the Eyes is an outstanding musical experience. Excellent music and lyrics that are easy to listen to. Inspirational as well as soulful, a gem of a CD - hopefully more to come. Well worth listening to. This crosses all types of musical backgrounds and makes an exceptional gift. 
            David Goldstone, Vice President, Panasonic Hospitality Division, New Jersey

Tadia has the voice of satin water. It is a joy to listen to the music and voice of this woman. If you need a calming and relaxing CD to listen to this is it. She brings to life the words of a great poetess, Tahirih, and defines what "poetry in motion" really means. Venture into the voice of Tadia and learn about a woman by the name of Tahirih, who was a revolutionary in her own right. Solace of the Eyes is satin soul. 
            Christine Weaver, Chicago, Illinois

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