Personnel includes: Joshua Kadison (vocals, piano); Clem Clempson (acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin); Tim Pierce, Tim Renwick, Mark Cresswell (guitar); Richard Morgan (oboe); Paul Jones (harmonica); Phil Parlipiano (accordion); Rod Argent (keyboards, Hammond B-3, background vocals); CJ Vanston (Hammond B-3); John Giblin (bass); John Pierce (bass); Peter Van Hooke (drums, percussion); Denny Fongheiser, Ian Thomas, Neal Wilkinson (drums); Frank Ricotti (congas, percussion); Martin Ditcham (percussion).

As a singer-songwriter, Joshua Kadison reveals a variety of classic influences, but he might strike some well-travelled listeners as the spiritual offspring of Billy Joel and Edie Brickell, sort of an itinerant piano man cum bohemian romantic. Projecting nomadic images of wandering, the search for identity, and desultory romance, PAINTED DESERT SERENADE depicts a profound, worldly romanticism for the 1990s.

Kadison's opening track "Jessie" sums up his appeal. She's an old flame with a habit of turning up at the most inopportune times, and with his keen eye for narrative detail, Kadison conveys his character's sense of longing and futility, as the moody melodic details leave listeners suspended in doubt, is this a long goodbye or will it all work out?

"All the callers call in, but the thing that's so strange, It's all the same story, just the voices that change on," Kadison sings on "Beau's All Night Love Line," evoking the haunting imagery of Elton John and Bernie Taupin at a perfect power pop tempo, as mandolin and harmonica toll away suggestively. The sense of yearning and liberation Kadison conveys on PAINTED DESERT SERENADE belies the singer's quiet approach--there's real fire and rage in Kadison's reflective cool. Track Listing:

1. Jessie
2. Painted Desert Serenade
3. Beau's All Night Radio Love Line
4. Invisible Man
5. Mama's Arms
6. Beautiful In My Eyes
7. Picture Postcards From L.A.
8. When A Woman Cries
9. Georgia Rain

(UNI$)