Abandoned Garden

Abandoned Garden is an album by American vocalist Michael Franks. Released in September 1995 by Warner Bros. Records, it was Franks' thirteenth studio album and his final album of new material with Warner Bros.

Background
The album is a dedication to the memory of Brazilian jazz musician, singer and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. Franks had drawn artistic inspiration throughout his career from Jobim, and had collaborated with him in the past.

"Somehow Our Love Survives" marked the return of keyboardist and lyricist Joe Sample, with whom Franks had collaborated on numerous albums, including Sleeping Gypsy in 1977 and Blue Pacific in 1990.

Reception
Writing for AllMusic, Ross Boissoneau praised the input of "heavy hitters" but lamented it was "neither Franks' best effort nor particularly evocative of the great Brazilian composer" the album was dedicated to. He concluded "while the revolving door of stars has served Franks well on other recordings, here they don't seem to add up to much."

Down Beat magazine rated the album "good" in their March 1996 issue, reporting it to be "a genuine keeper, a guilty pleasure. Somehow Franks, a song stylist more than a jazz vocalist, once again gets his way, singing his indelible melodies that before you know it are under your skin, into your veins and etched into your soul..."

Musicians

 * Michael Franks – vocals, guitar, banjo
 * Keith O'Quinn – trombone
 * Randy Brecker – flugelhorn
 * Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone
 * Joshua Redman – soprano saxophone
 * David Sanborn, Andy Snitzer – alto saxophone
 * Lawrence Feldman – alto flute
 * Bob Mintzer – flute, alto flute
 * Eliane Elias, Russell Ferrante, Gil Goldstein, Bob James, Carla Bley – piano
 * John Leventhal – electric guitar
 * Chuck Loeb – guitar
 * Jeff Mironov – guitar, acoustic guitar
 * Diane Barere, Mark Orrin Shuman, Frederick Slotkin – cello
 * Manolo Badrena – woodwinds, percussion
 * Peter Erskine – drums, percussion
 * Chris Parker, Lewis Nash – drums
 * Don Alias, Bashiri Johnson – percussion
 * Brian Mitchell – vocals

Support

 * Jimmy Haslip, Michael Colina, Russell Ferrante – arrangement
 * James Farber – audio mixer
 * Ken Schles, Fredrick Nilsen – photography
 * Recording at Bearsville Studios, Clinton, Make Believe Ballroom, Power Station, Sound on Sound