Jazz Articles about Joanna Pascale

Joanna Pascale at Chris' Jazz Cafe

by Victor L. Schermer
November 13, 2018

Joanna Pascale Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA November 10, 2018 The content of this show came as a complete surprise to this reviewer. I expected vocalist Joanna Pascale, who is by now a Philadelphia legend, to sing a typical set of standards from the Great American Songbook. Instead, she blew everyone away with a set of Italian tunes that I usually hear in the background at a little coffee shop called Anthony's in South Philadelphia! ...

Joanna Pascale: To Tell a Story in Song

by Victor L. Schermer
May 20, 2015

Among jazz vocalists, there are two main categories: those who belt out a tune with flourish, ornamentation, punctuation, and improvising known as “scat." Ella Fitzgerald is the prime representative of that approach. Then there are those who omit the superfluous, carefully crafting every word and note, bringing out the underlying emotions. Think of Billie Holiday. Joanna Pascale is a vocalist who has honed the latter approach into a way of literally being with the song in an I-Thou relationship. An ...

His Master’s Voice: Joanna Pascale & Thana Alexa

by C. Michael Bailey
April 13, 2015

“Ahab beckons from the side of the whale..." I have had the pleasure to work with a most benevolent Publisher in Michael Ricci for 20 years. His editorial hand has always been liberal and indulging. It is a very rare thing that he would ask me to listen to something that has been ringing his bell. So rare, that when it happens, my ears perk up and I stand at attention. Michael's taste has always been exceptional ...

Joanna Pascale: Through My Eyes

by AAJ Italy Staff
May 26, 2009

Secondo disco a nome della cantante di Philadelphia Joanna Pascale, una delle vocalist emergenti della scena statunitense, questo Through My Eyes raccoglie dieci standard a cavallo tra la fine degli anni '30 e l'inizio degli anni '60, molti dei quali relativamente poco eseguiti. Le atmosfere sono perlopiù notturne, tipicamente da Jazz Club, e la Pascale vi si muove con la più totale disinvoltura, mettendo in luce una notevole duttilità vocale che le permette di modulare tanto tonalità cangianti, quanto espressività ...

Joanna Pascale: Through My Eyes

by Greg Camphire
August 23, 2008

Philadelphia native Joanna Pascale ably represents her soulful hometown on Through My Eyes, demonstrating why she's a favorite of some of the city's finest musicians, including preeminent drummer Mickey Roker--an expert on swing if there ever was one. Pascale has obviously done her homework, and spent some quality time in the woodshed. Sidestepping what could be another tired retread of the Great American Songbook by yet another generic vocalist, Pascale shows she's got the taste and skills to pull off ...

Joanna Pascale Quintet at Loews Hotel in Philadelphia

by Victor L. Schermer
August 5, 2006

Joanna Pascale Loews Hotel Philadelphia, PA August 2006

It isn't often one gets to hear a top of the line jazz vocalist at a hotel cocktail lounge and restaurant (the great Mabel Mercer comes to mind as one of those rarities), but we've lucked out. Joanna Pascale, one of the best young jazz vocalists, has landed herself a regular weekly gig at the Loews Hotel, at 12th and Market Streets right by the Pennsylvania ...

Joanna Pascale: When Lights are Low

by Victor L. Schermer
December 5, 2004

Joanna Pascale When Lights are Low CAP 2004

The quintessential instrument of jazz, perhaps all of music, is the female voice. While jazz has many personae and “voices" (I think of John Coltrane's “preacher" inflections, Miles Davis' contemplative, moody, and earthy “speaking through the horn," Bill Evans' dreamy, complex, ethereal “muse," etc.), the female voice most fully embodies the dialectic of blues and ecstasy, the resiliency, and the inner spiritual core of the jazz ...