Storylines
The music of Susan Weinschenk
Stellar Sound Production
Digital now | CD coming soon
Storylines
This inspirational music project brings people together by sharing the human stories behind songs. It offers a multifaceted workshop that blends emotional healing, a live musical performance, and an educational look at the creative production process from start to finish.
The album is streaming now; physical CDs are coming soon. Press play below to hear it in full — no account or subscription needed.
Also available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Learn more about the project at storylinesmusic.com.
If you are interested in receiving a CD, please email janet@janetplanet.com with your address and number of CD’s. They are $20.00 per unit. Pay via PayPal to janet@janetplanet.com or Venmo @Janet-Washatka
“Storylines is one of Janet Planet’s more powerful statements as she digs into the lyrics and universal feelings of Susan Weinschenk’s songs.” – Scott Yanow
Susan Weinschenk is a very successful Dr. of Behavioral Psychology who has published five books about user experience in computer systems. She is also a talented songwriter, some of whose works were recorded previously by Janet Planet on Hope Springs.
Throughout her productive career, Janet Planet has been a very versatile and powerful singer. While jazz is her foundation, her two dozen recordings have included two albums of Bob Dylan songs, a set of duets with pianist John Harmon (Last Call), swing standards (Passion From The Wreckage and Get Happy), intimate ballads (Just Above A Whisper), and songs that saluted various states and cities (Of Thee I Sing).
For Storylines, Susan Weinschenk contributed 15 originals that discussed aspects of her life including hard times (breast cancer during the COVID lockdown) and happy occasions (the birth of her first grandchild), love songs and those in which she is searching for hope. Janet Planet and her husband Tom Washatka co-produced and arranged the performances. They used a core group consisting of Washatka on tenor and soprano (he also was the project’s engineer), pianist-keyboardist Matt Buchman, guitarist Kelvin Kaspar, bassist Mark Urness, and drummer-percussionist Ryan Korb.
There is a lot of variety throughout Storylines in styles, grooves, moods, and the stories. It is quite a showcase for Janet Planet’s wide musical talents. The opener, “Unconditional Love,” has a happy groove and finds the singer belting out some of the lyrics in a country-folk style. “You’re The One” is joyful while “Let Me Be The One” is a wistful love song full of longing and desire, a relaxed and thoughtful performance on which Ms. Planet’s voice is particularly lovely.
“The Things I Remember” is a waltz with prominent playing by bassist Urness. “Everything You Want But The Blues” is funky and soulful with plenty of bluesy singing. “The Silence Of My Room” and “What Are You Waiting For” feature heartfelt and intimate ballad singing. Janet Planet’s voice is quite inviting during the bossa “Our Love Is An Ocean,” a bit heartbreaking on the melancholy “Where Do I Go From Here,” and optimistic throughout the folk song “Come Home To You” and “There’s Gotta Be A Rainbow Somewhere”; the latter has a particularly memorable melody. “I Pray For Help” includes a fine soprano solo and has the singer sounding determined that she can survive anything. She scats a little bit on the Brazilian-flavored “The Peace I Long To Find,” is celebratory on “I Cut My Cryin’ In Half” (which has New Orleans parade rhythms, saxophone and organ solos, and some wailing singing), and concludes the program with passionate and assertive vocalizing on “I Have Everything But You.”
On a whole, Storylines is one of Janet Planet’s more powerful statements as she digs into the lyrics and universal feelings of Susan Weinschenk’s songs. More information about the enjoyable release can be found at www.storylinesmusic.com and www.janetplanet.com.
Scott Yanow, jazz journalist/historian and author of 12 books including The Jazz Singers
Expressions of vulnerability and resilience share the stage on Storylines, the compelling singer Janet Planet’s latest project in a long line of recordings. Following up on 2023’s Hope Springs, the jazz-leaning artist again delves into the songs of Dr. Susan Weinschenk, a woman whose “day job” has been as a behavioral psychologist and author. If there somehow existed a Doctorate in Unabashed Musical Sincerity, both women would earn that degree. Author and muse are an ideal match.
Knowing that the writer’s personal perspectives notably include the fear and fortitude involved with her battle with breast cancer lets a listener appreciate confessions and catharsis through that lens. However, the lyrics don’t deal in health-specific references, so they stand on their own and are relatable to almost any kind of life struggles and dealing with apprehension or appreciation. More generally, some numbers are focused on aspects of interpersonal relationships. Emotions are unhesitatingly direct and palpable but, whether tender or raw, some restraint and trusting the material prevents overstatement. Gilding the lily is not needed.
While a few gutsier numbers, such as “I’ve Cut My Cryin’ in Half,” arrive clothed in feisty tones and funky instrumentation, it’s Janet Planet’s pensive and plaintive singing elsewhere that is truly spellbinding. Her empathetic and disarming deliveries of wistful ruminations–including the simple pleasures named in “The Things I Remember” and elusive comfort and hope sought in “I Pray for Help” and “There’s Gotta Be a Rainbow Somewhere”–demonstrate her loving, steady laser-beam approach. In other hands, open wounds and open-hearted statements could risk wallowing in woe or pat platitudes, but such fates are not a worry with this savvy interpreter and the simpatico arrangements.
There are 14 musicians participating on the involving Storylines, including guitarist Kelvin Kaspar, keyboardist Matt Buchman, bassist Mark Urness, and reed player Tom Washatka (producer, sound engineer, and also longtime musical and marital partner of the singer who collaborated on the arrangements with the singer and the writer/producer). The physical CD with a full set of 15 songs can be purchased directly from the singer, while the digital release exists with a dozen of the tracks, and the others are available separately as a set of three digital bonus tracks.
As always, Janet Planet gets to the heart of a song, whether it’s about being hearty, heartrending, heartwarming, or all of the above.
New York Critic, Rob Lester