The Jardines

The Jardines, with their “go big or go home” attitude, is a 7 piece contemporary country pop/roots act fronted by Canada's hottest mother/daughter songwriting duo Cherelle and Ajaye Jardine. Their story has a fairy tale start, but would soon evolve into the reality of a 7 piece band with 2 albums and an upcoming project in Nashville slated for 2015. Cherelle was getting ready to record her 5th solo cd when she casually asked Ajaye, (a budding singer/songwriter), if she would like to create a project together – a mother/daughter band called The Jardines. At an age when most teenagers would balk at joining forces with one of their parents, Ajaye said yes... and the Jardines concept was a reality, songs were composed and Canada's hottest mother/daughter act was born, yielding a delicious mixture of street smarts and innocence. Their life experiences are meshed together, giving fans an ageless body of work to fall in love with. They’re not just another band making music; The Jardines are a band that lives to create and play music. It's far more than the vocal blends or the heartfelt songwriting; their core foundation is built on love, respect and belief in their music and each other. Adding their unique stamp to Cherelle and Ajaye's songs is a pool of talented musicians including Marc Gladstone – keys/vocals (Prism, Doug and the Slugs, Abandon Paris), Michael Flunkert – steel guitars (Shiloh Lindsay), Ricky Francisco –mandolin/vocals/guitar/harmonica/fiddle (Cam Dempsey, Ruckus), Jay Wittur – bass/vocals (Doug and the Slugs, Ken McCoy), and Nick James (Magnus Rising) all putting the icing on the cake. The first album, "The Jardines", included a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” which got the attention of Gordon himself. Gordon’s publishing company called Cherelle and told her that Gordon loved the rendition and the cd. The self titled album was released at their performance for the 2010 Olympic Ozone opening ceremonies in Richmond, BC. Cherelle was chosen as Richmond’s representative for CTV’s “Do you believe” commercials, which were televised across the country 15 plus times a day, promoting the Ozone and the Jardines' performance. "The Jardines" was well received... “a raw and refined approach with deep rooted emotion by Cherelle’s songs and a pop friendly, innocent youthful spirit with Ajaye's songs” Jimmy Rae (Skope Magazine). A flurry of live shows followed, building a local buzz. That summer, The Jardines played at the Merritt Mountain Music Festival along with Aaron Pritchett, Dierks Bentley and Vince Gill. Recording for the 2nd cd, “Someone’s Stolen Tuesday” was underway in 2011, at the Sound Lounge in Vancouver. Produced by Cherelle and Marc Gladstone, The band left the alternative musical stylings of "The Jardines" behind and crossed over into the country pop arena with "Someone's Stolen Tuesday". “SST” tracks were flown to Alberta to have Juno Award winning recording engineer, Sheldon Zaharko from Zed Productions mix the album, which was then mastered by Sensei. Cherelle and Ajaye went to Nashville in November 2013 to start writing for the next recording project. They wrote with Jane Bach, Darryl and LeeAnn Burgess. The songs that were born in Nashville will be included in their 3rd project. The girls head back down south to Nashville, in 2015 to start recording for the new project. Reviews for Someone's Stolen Tuesday. THE JARDINES: Someone’s Stolen Tuesday (thejardinesband.com): The second full length from the mother/daughter songwriting duo of Cherelle and Ajaye Jardine finds the duo sounding like some vision of the best elements of classic California rock with some B.C. grit tossed in for good measure. The title track “Someone’s Stolen Tuesday” should be a hit. It’s got a great harmony hook, a memorable lyric and bursts off a sound system with the kind of rush you just want to experience on an icy back road in a rundown pick-up. Sharing vocal duties, the family brings the double hit of both mom’s extensive experience and Ajaye’s youthful exuberance to tracks such as “All Fall Down” that give it a double-sides of the same coin effect. The backing group, particularly keyboardist Marc Gladstone and steel player Michael Flunkert as well as guitarist Doug Liddle, multi-instrumentalist Ricky Francisco and bassist Jay Wittur shine. This group should be booked at every country and folk festival next season on the basis of this accomplished release. Stuart Derdeyn The Province :blogs.theprovince.com/2012/10/16/cd-reviews-october-16-2012 When Cherelle Jardine was set to release another album, she asked her daughter, Ajaye, about a collaboration project. From that, their self-titled LP was released. The project worked so well, mother and daughter team is set to release their sophomore full-length, Someone’s Stolen Tuesday—11-tracks of their pop nuanced Alt Country. Assuming dual writing and tandem vocal duties, the album is vocally driven with standard Country instrumentation and deep, emotive lyrical matter. The album opens with the title track, “Someone’s Stolen Tuesday.” Acoustic and electric lay the melody while bent note steel guitar, piano and assorted percussion add fills and bolster Cherelle’s airy vocal delivery. The track foreshadows the vocal drive of the tracks to follow. “Torn” features Ajaye with vocal duties and youthful exuberance shines through in her delivery. While there is some weepy steel guitar backing the vocals; this one plays out more radio friendly pop tune than traditional Country track. That being said, it doesn’t detract from the fact that when it comes to strong songwriting ability, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. “All Fall Down” is really what I was waiting for with mother and daughter assuming dual vocal duties rather than one backing another. The tandem lines meld into one strong voice at the harmonized close of the verse. Acoustic and electric, alongside piano, lay a melody that plays out rendering a song that lyrically, speaks of hope and support. Piano opens “Crazy World” and drives the melody with Ajaye again assuming lead vocal duties. This down tempo love song sees a slight retreat of the instrumentation with allowing the vocal delivery to shine through. “Blame it on the kiss” is a true Country rocker with jangle piano and bent note electric fills lead the musicality of this one. The pure Country ethos of the track smells like a single and it would fit nicely in standard rotation on any contemporary Country channel. The standout facet of the Someone’s Stolen Tuesday is the power these two women command vocally. Whether sharing vocal duties or harmonizing at the chorus, vocals are the strongest instrument in the outfit. Cherelle has a clear prowess at songwriting and Ajaye seems to be coming into her own as well… Cherelle lends the experience of a veteran songwriter to the mix while Ajaye brings her innocent appreciation of myriad of influences. Simply put, this is just a good blend of Alt Country roots and approachable pop that fans of the genre should be on the lookout for come October. Chris West cwestlaz@gmail.com http://www.skopemag.com/2012/09/17/the-jardines-someones-stolen-tuesday The Jardines stay true to country-pop on Someone’s Stolen Tuesday Someone’s Stolen Tuesday (Independent) If you’ve missed having a mother-daughter country-pop duo in your life ever since the Judds called it a day, meet the Jardines. Cherelle’s the mom, Ajaye is her offspring, and the two are now on their second album. It’s obvious that they and their collaborators—especially keyboardist Marc Gladstone, who coproduced Someone’s Stolen Tuesday with Cherelle—put a lot of time and effort into these 11 songs. The writing, it must be said, isn’t going to stun anyone with its originality. The Jardines aren’t above wearing their influences on their sleeve, and are even guilty of a few uncredited borrowings. In “You’re No Good for Me”, for example, Gladstone plays a piano part that repeatedly incorporates the melody of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” (yes, that song from The Sound of Music). Elsewhere, “Blame It on the Kiss” inexplicably lifts the bridge from Hot Chocolate’s “You Could Have Been a Lady” (albeit in the style of April Wine’s version), and Ajaye’s “Torn” features a chorus that’s a little too reminiscent of the Natalie Imbruglia hit with the same title. Even so, the sound is lush and full throughout, and with a little more polish and a few more hooks, the Jardines could conceivably slip into rotation on CMT. Or wherever this sort of thing gets played. John Lucas http://www.straight.com/music/jardines-stay-true-country-pop-someones-stolen-tuesday https://soundcloud.com/thejardinesband The Jardines is a 7 piece contemporary country pop/roots act fronted by Canada's hottest mother/daughter songwriting duo Cherelle and Ajaye.