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Karrin Allyson
"If there's a choir in heaven, someday the exquisite vocalist Karrin Allyson will lead it. She's such an otherworldly talent that the creator probably already has her on heavy rotation." —The Houston Press
Well, no worries, mate, Karrin Allyson will be part of this earthly choir for a very long time. But she is moving on, after a jam-packed career with Concord Jazz—thirteen albums, four Grammy nominations, and a recent self-produced holiday album, Yuletide Hideaway that won four stars from Downbeat.
In May of 2015, as part of a new agreement with Motéma Music, Karrin headed back into the recording studio for a very intimate look at the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, accompanied only by a rare and distinctive pairing of Kenny Barron on piano and John Patitucci on bass. Many a New Day (Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein) will be released on 18 September 2015. For Karrin, who once played Nelly Forbush in a production of South Pacific as a teenager, this album is a return to source. “I've been all around the world musically, from bop and bossa and chanson to blues and singer- songwriters. And now, I feel like coming home. I find myself powerfully drawn to the world of Rodgers and Hammerstein.”
“Why? Well, the tunes for starters – gorgeous melodies, near perfect lyrics, music that begs to be sung. Their music is filled with innocence, optimism, a confident can-do response to any problem, an appealing wise-guy humor, a sense that we all belong together on this wonderful planet.” So, Allyson chose to explore Rodgers & Hammerstein in a very spare, honest setting — just a singer, telling the story with two masterful partners, underlining and extending.
Karrin lives in New York City, following a childhood in the Midwest, schooling in the Bay Area, a degree in classical piano performance and important stints in Minneapolis and Kansas City, where she began her recording career with Concord Jazz. Karrin currently spends two days out of three on tour, playing the major jazz festivals, concert venues and clubs of the U.S. and making repeated tours overseas — to Brazil, Japan, Australia and the great cities of Europe. Throughout 2014 Allyson was featured as solo vocalist in the 'Newport—Now 60' Tour which played in thirty cities across the US and Canada before concluding the 2014 Newport Festival.
Among musicians, Karrin is known as a great bandleader and one of the deep pleasures of the current scene is listening to her highly developed interplay with her bandmates—it sounds so effortless—but it conceals a deep musical sophistication. It’s one of Allyson’s great achievements—the result of working over the years with an ensemble of fearless and powerfully committed jazz virtuosi. Karrin has also developed a unique relationship with the multi-talented L.A. composer Chris Caswell and the two have collaborated for nearly ten years as composers and performers in a very spirited ensemble featuring Caswell on Hammond B-3 organ. In fact, Karrin has been doing a lot of writing of late and promises an album of original songs in the near future.
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Deeds Not Words
by Patrick Burnette
Try as he might, Pat can't escape Mike's jones for jazz mixed with politics, so he submits, and the boys look at examples of art-music and political rhetoric in jazz by musicians alienated by the last few years of political events. Do the bastards pontificate more than the music they're criticizing? You be the judge. Cutting edge acts such as Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, and the Go-Go's give Pop Matters that contemporary vibe it so desperately needs. Playlist ...
read moreKarrin Allyson: Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson sings Rodgers and Hammerstein
by C. Michael Bailey
Karrin Allyson projects always have all five points of the creative star pinned down: theme, repertoire, arrangement, sequencing, and support. Her recordings Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord, 2001), In Blue (Concord, 2002), Footprints (Concord, 2006), and 'Round Midnight (Concord, 2011) are all evidence of her unsurpassed musicianship and creative heart. Karrin Allyson's worst recording is still outstanding. Artistically fearless, Allyson again spins golden lace from her talent arsenal. Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson sings Rodgers and ...
read moreCindy Scott: Historia
by C. Michael Bailey
Stating the obvious right off, vocalist Cindy Scott is from New Orleans. This fact thoroughly and three-dimensionally informs the twelve selections on Historia, Scott's follow-up to Let The Devil Take Tomorrow (Catahoula Records, 2009), without making a burden of it. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, the aural aroma of the Crescent City appears like an essence, that hyperdistillation that leaves neither finger nor footprint but exists as an indelible mark on the music readily recognised. This mark is made audible ...
read moreKarrin Allyson: 'Round Midnight
by C. Michael Bailey
Karrin Allyson is a jazz singer's jazz singer. As such she is well-studied in jazz outside of the vocal realm. This particular tool in her considerable skill set is responsible for her command of even demanding material as evidenced on her near perfect Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord Records, 2001) and Footprints (Concord Records, 2006). These recordings were nominally concept projects, the first dedicated to John Coltrane's seminal Ballads (Impulse!, 1963),and the second addressing the vocalese of modern jazz compositions. ...
read moreKarrin Allyson: Has Jazz, Will Travel
by Marcia Hillman
Karrin Allyson is one of the busiest jazz vocalists on the domestic and international scene these days. Starting her musical journey studying classical piano, Allyson discovered jazz and jazz singing in college and thus claimed her future.Over the years, Allyson has honed her singing, songwriting and piano skills and has recorded twelve CDs, all on the Concord Record label; the longtime association considered a major feat in the recording industry. This has led to three Grammy nominations in ...
read moreKarrin Allyson: Imagina
by Marcia Hillman
Karrin Allyson has crafted a delightful and loving salute to songs of Brazil on Imagina. As stated in the liner notes, she wanted to “sing songs I love with players that I love." And that she has done. Accompanied by Gil Goldstein (piano and accordion), Rod Fleeman (acoustic guitar), David Finck (acoustic bass), Todd Strait (drums), Michael Spiro (percussion) and Steve Nelson (vibraphone and marimba), Allyson sails through 14 selections singing in both Portuguese and English. The material has been ...
read moreKarrin Allyson Live at Birdland
by Michael P. Gladstone
Karrin Allyson Birdland New York, NY May 19, 2007
The time is 9 P.M. at Birdland, and jazz singer Karrin Allyson is about to open a four-night engagement at the famed Manhattan club. The musicians are all gathered together, and the singer is amongst friends with whom she's been performing since her Kansas City days and with whom she made her debut recording on Concord Records in 1993. Although she has recorded with ...
read moreDave Bass Hits #15 Jazz Week - All-Star Band with Ted Nash, Karrin Allyson, Carlos Henriquez & More!
Source:
Scott Thompson Public Relations
Dave Bass No Boundaries Whaling City Sound Hits #15 on JazzWeek charts! Everyone's got a story to tell, but chances are that few have one like Dave Bass. Just out of high school in jny: Cincinnati, Bass played in bands opening for Captain Beefheart and Alice Cooper. He went onto study piano with the legendary teacher Madame Chaloff (who taught Leonard Bernstein, Steve Kuhn, Kenny Werner and others) and then to touring the world as Brenda ...
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Pianist, Composer, Arranger Dave Bass Releases No Boundaries, Featuring Ted Nash, Karrin Allyson, Carlos Henriquez, Jerome Jennings & More!
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Scott Thompson Public Relations
Release date: August 2, 2019 The saying goes that everyone's got a story to tell. But chances are good that few, if any, have the kind of story Dave Bass has. Without resorting to detail, Bass's rebirth as a jazz musician after decades away from the art is nothing short of astonishing. Having retired from the Office of the Attorney General of California back in 2015, Bass is back at the piano, where he promises to keep the torch burning ...
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Jazz this week: Karrin Allyson, Olivia Block, Eric Marienthal, Tommy Halloran, and more
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a typically varied assortment of sounds and styles, with a couple of notable touring performers in the middle of the week. So, without further delay, let's go to the highlights... Thursday, November 12 The Gaslight Cabaret Festival fall series continues with an encore performance from the duo Sleepy Kitty at the Gaslight Theater. Also on Thursday, the SIUE jazz faculty will feature saxophonist Jason Swagler in a concert ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catching up with Karrin Allyson
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's check out some videos featuring Karrin Allyson, who returns to St. Louis next week to perform on Wednesday, November 11 and Thursday, November 12 at Jazz at the Bistro. Allyson, a Kansas City native now based in NYC, was a favorite of Jazz at the Bistro founder Barbara Rose, and performed here a number of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Her visits grew somewhat less frequent once she moved east, and it's been more ...
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Four-time Grammy Nominee Karrin Allyson Sets New U.S. Tour Dates, Including Multiple Nights In Los Angeles, San Francisco
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
Four-Time Grammy Nominee Karrin Allyson Sets New U.S. Tour Dates, Including Multiple Nights in Los Angeles, San Francisco NY Times’ Stephen Holden: “Her show, whose selections change with every set, is a celebration of a 13-album career that is one of the most stable in jazz. She has an easy mastery of bebop, bossa nova, chanson and soft rock, to name four of the many styles in which she is comfortable.” Four-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson has confirmed a series ...
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Karrin Allyson is USA Today #1 CD of Year; Grammy Nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
GRAMMY NOMINATED FOR BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM USA TODAY's Elysa Gardner has chosen Karrin Allyson's 'Round Midnight as her #1 Album of 2011, in a Year-End Poll of USA TODAY's top critics. It's the latest accolade in a year of extraordinary acclaim for Allyson's stunning CD. 'Round Midnight has been nominated for a 2012 GRAMMY AWARD for Best Jazz Vocal Album, marking Allyson's fourth consecutive nomination in this major category. The Grammys take place on February 12, 2012, and Allyson ...
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Karrin Allyson "Round Midnight" Tour Dates
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
Rapturous, Career-Defining Coverage Runs for Grammy-Nominated Vocalist Karrin Allyson's 'Round Midnight Concord Jazz CD Jumps From #23 to #5 on JazzWeek Charts Coming to Birdland 5/31-6/4 Grammy-nominated vocalist and pianist Karrin Allyson has received rapturous, career- defining coverage from some of the top journalists in America for her understated new album 'Round Midnight. In his lengthy Associated Press CD review, Charles Gans praised the music as “darkly beautiful and melancholic," and added, “Allyson is a consummate jazz singer whose harmonic ...
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Karrin Allyson Earns Early Raves for 'Round Midnight' CD, out 5/3 on Concord Jazz
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
Grammy-Nominated Vocalist Karrin Allyson Earns Early Raves for Dreamy CD, 'Round Midnight, Out May 3rd on Concord Jazz USA TODAY: “Exquisite Voice and Elegant Delivery" On 'Round Midnight, Allyson weaves an elegant, understated dreamscape featuring 11 songs by some of the most storied writers in jazz, Broadway and pop music, from Duke Ellington to Stephen Sondheim to Paul Simon—a full track listing follows. The acclaimed release, the singer's thirteenth on Concord Jazz, marks the first time that Allyson plays all ...
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Karrin Allyson Confirmed to Perform at Jazz for Japan Benefit Concert
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
Grammy-nominated vocalist/pianist Karrin Allyson is confirmed to participate in the JAZZ FOR JAPAN BENEFIT CONCERT, April 18, 2011 at the Highline Ballroom 100% of the ticket proceeds to be donated to the Japan Relief and Recovery Fund spearheaded by Direct Relief. In association with In Touch Entertainment Blue Note Jazz Benefit for Japan The Blue Note Jazz Benefit for Japan at the Highline Ballroom will feature a stellar group of international jazz musicians, including Madeleine Peyroux, Joe Lovano, Karrin Allyson, ...
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The Traneumentary: Karrin Allyson
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Jazz Online By Joseph Vella
Grammy-nominated artist Karrin Allyson has been churning out one great recording after another great recording for many years. With each album comes a new musical theme in which she performs both as a vocalist and pianist. A few years back she paid homage to John Coltrane with the release of Ballads-Remembering John Coltrane—a set of the repertoire from the classic Ballads album along with a few added Trane inspired pieces. The album was not only successful but critically acclaimed. On ...
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